Brain, hormones keys to fighting fat by Amanda Hughes As U.S.
waistlines continue to grow, Americans search desperately for
answers to lose weight -- diet books, dusty gym shoes, fad drugs
and even hypnosis. Turns out, the answer was in your head all
along. Researchers at the Obesity Research Center, part of UC's
Genome Research Institute, are leading the way in discovering
how hormones from the stomach talk to the brain, informing our
organs how hungry we are, what nutrients we need and how much
energy to store. The hormone pattern and signals sent from the
stomach to the brain, called the gut-brain axis, create a
"remote control" for metabolism. Matthias Tschoep, one of
several UC professors involved in the project, believes the
findings can lead to better drug-treatment options to fight
obesity by allowing researchers to manipulate the hormones and
messages received by the brain. Although research has focused
mainly on a new hormone called ghrelin, Tschoep says many
hormones communicate with the brain in a