One wonders how the leptin is going to prevent caregivers overfeeding...
it's not like the overextended stomach isn't already causing feeling full
triggers.
At least it's being ridiculed early on!
Morgan Gallagher
Online Lactaneer
Nursing 27 month old, and really needs to go to bed herself....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6575767.stm
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Fat-fighting baby milk criticised
Plans to add a hormone which suppresses hunger to baby formula food is
unlikely to work say experts.
University of Buckingham researchers are looking at adding leptin to formula
milk to curb future over-eating.
But experts said the work detailed in Chemistry and Industry was "wildly
optimistic science fiction" and questioned testing leptin on babies.
Babies fed with formula grow more quickly than breast-fed babies - who have
a lower risk of obesity as adults.
'Adding something back'
The work into the effect of leptin, a hormone produced in the brain
throughout life, is being carried out at the Clore Laboratory at the
University of Buckingham.
Without evidence that this works in humans, it is pure flight of fancy
that those consuming leptin from infancy will never get fat
Dr Ian Campbell, Weight Concern
The team, led by Dr Mike Cawthorne, are looking at adding leptin to formula
milk and other foods.
They have already carried out a study where leptin was given to pregnant
rats, leading to a lifelong impact on their offspring's propensity to
obesity.
Even those fed a fat-laden diet stayed slim, while offspring from untreated
rats gained weight and developed diabetes.
Research into the effect of the hormone on human appetite has so far proved
disappointing, with people soon seeming to resist its hunger-quenching
effects.
But Dr Cawthorne said providing leptin early effectively "hard-wires the
body's energy balance".
He added: "The supplemented milks are simply adding something back that was
originally present - breast milk contains leptin and formula feeds don't."
'Altering the brain'
However, a number of experts have criticised the concept of adding leptin to
formula milk.
Steve O'Rahilly, professor of clinical biochemistry and medicine at the
University of Cambridge said: "Several researchers have suggested that
exposing animals to higher leptin levels during early life might have
long-lasting benefits in terms of protection against later obesity.
"But this still needs to be firmed up.
"The notion that leptin in baby milk will prevent human obesity is currently
in the realms of wildly optimistic science fiction."
Dr Nick Finer, clinical director of the Wellcome Clinical Research Facility
at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, agreed.
He said: "The concept that adding something to a food that could permanently
alter brain development is exciting but at the same time so scary that it
would mean a wholly new approach about how such treatments can be tested and
approved for use.
"And would the first trials be in newly born children?"
Dr Ian Campbell, honorary medical director of the charity Weight Concern
said: "Without evidence that this works in humans, it is pure flight of
fancy that those consuming leptin from infancy will never get fat.
"I'd be surprised if this product could be advertised or marketed with these
extraordinary claims."
He added: "To date, leptin has proved to be a great disappointment. Most of
us have plenty, and true deficiencies are rare.
"In fact, obese people tend to have higher than normal levels."
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