The weight gain after the age of 50 could be explained by the lack of efficiency of a hormone in the brain. Researchers from theAberdeen’s Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health in the UK identified a decline in the effects of certain hormones, called pro-opiomelanocortin, with age.
Located in a part of the brain involved in the control of eating, they serve to regulate appetite. But after the age of 50, the signals sent by these hormones are less intense and the feeling of satiety takes longer to be felt. The same amount of food therefore does not satisfy the appetite in the same way at 40 or 50 years old.
Towards a drug to prevent overweight
“Understanding this mechanism is important, because it opens up prospects at the therapeutic level. We have identified the key cells involved, and we have observed that certain molecules are able to stimulate them”, explains Lora Heisler, one of the main authors of this study, published by the journal endocrinology.
Drugs capable of awakening the hormones of satiety and preventing overweight could therefore see the light of day. In France, according to figures from the National Institute of Health (Inserm), obesity affected 15% of adults in 2012. But more recent data are hopeful, because for the first time in 30 years, the progression of obesity seems to be slowing down.
