How Fat Works.HOW FAT WORKS PHILIP A. WOOD The obesity epidemic striking industrialized in·dus·tri·al·ize v. in·dus·tri·al·ized, in·dus·tri·al·iz·ing, in·dus·tri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example). 2. nations has led to a renewed research focus on the physiological causes and effects of excess fat in the body. Scientists are striving to understand how fat is metabolized and how excess fat leads to diseases such as diabetes. Wood, a metabolic geneticist ge·net·i·cist n. A specialist in genetics. geneticist a specialist in genetics. geneticist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB began in 1936 as the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama. Because of the rapid growth of the Birmingham area, it was decided that an extension program for students who had difficulties which prevented them from studying in Tuscaloosa was needed. , outlines his and others' recent findings on such topics. Much of that research uses mice engineered to lack certain genes that control the buildup build·up also build-up n. 1. The act or process of amassing or increasing: a military buildup; a buildup of tension during the strike. 2. of fat. Using these animal models of obesity, scientists have learned much about how cells both store fat and secrete secrete /se·crete/ (se-kret´) to elaborate and release a secretion. se·crete v. To generate and separate a substance from cells or bodily fluids. hormones that regulate a person's appetite and activity levels. Wood describes how discoveries in these areas are explaining disorders of metabolism, cholesterol processing, and insulin activity. The book explores the merits of various dietary approaches, exercise, and lipid-lowering drugs. Harvard, 2006, 272 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $35.00. |
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