by the Way . . .

Scientists today announced discovery of a hormone that reduces the desire to eat. Mice taking it eat half as much, and lose weight. It is not yet known how it makes the mouse feel, however, and it was observed that "a drug that produced weight loss by making people throw up might not be a good idea". And not really a new idea either, I guess.

The hormone, named obestatin (what else?) prompts the brain to send out a signal that says "eat less". I suggested to Kathy that it might be a substitute for some of her vigilence, and got back "more likely a substitute for common sense". She is right, of course; nobody really eats because they are hungry.

These scientists, bless their hearts for trying, would, if they got out more, know that there are three main reasons why overweight people eat:

1. It is meal time.
2. Need something to do.
3. The item looks good.

A fourth reason, of growing importance to the health conscious, is trying to eat more of what is good for you, on top of the regular stuff. You can get away with that with broccoli, particularly if it is cooked like George H. W. Bush's and my mother cooked it, but it is not going to fly with those new Mars Cocovia chocolate bars ("eat two a day for maximum benefit").

Dr. Hsueh observed that the existence of obestatin indicated that controlling food intake must be important for survival. How many times have I heard that? Dr. Leibel, noted that the same gene produced a sister hormone, ghrelin, which had the opposite effect, so it was like driving with one foot on the brake and one on the gas. "One might wonder, why would you do this?" he said. "Why design a system like this?" Moreover, it was revealed that obestatin had only been tested in normal mice, not fat ones, so further study was necessary.