The Thyroid Blog

The Real Secret About "The Secret Cure for Hypothyroidism" -- A Warning

If you've been intrigued by an ad promising "The Secret Cure for Hypothyroidism" -- think again.

The people putting together this guide (hah! -- it's just a handful of pages, actually) have a secret for you, but it has nothing to do with your thyroid, and everything to do with getting YOUR money in THEIR pockets. 

Before you even think about ordering this, save yourself time and trouble, and find out the REAL story.

Are You Gaining Weight Because of a Virus?

Scientists reported new evidence that infection with a common virus may be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic sweeping through the United States and other countries. In laboratory experiments they showed that infection with human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36), long recognized as a cause of respiratory and eye infections in humans, transforms adult stem cells obtained from fat tissue into fat cells. Stem cells not exposed to the virus, in contrast, were unchanged.

Estrogen's Secret Role in Obesity

New research on the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen in the brain lend credence to what many women have suspected about the hormonal changes that accompany aging: Menopause can make you fat.

Scientists long have sought to understand how changes in hormones during menopause could account for the increase in appetite and accompanying weight gain that often occurs among aging women.

Are Your Friends Making You Fat?

Are your friends making you fat? Or keeping you slender? According to new research from Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, the short answer on both counts is "yes."

Appearing in the July 26, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a study coauthored by Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School and James Fowler of UC San Diego suggests that obesity is "socially contagious," spreading from person to person in a social network.

The study -- the first to examine this phenomenon -- finds that if one person becomes obese, those closely connected to them have a greater chance of becoming obese themselves. Surprisingly, the greatest effect is seen not among people sharing the same genes or the same household but among friends.