New research in the FASEB Journal shows evidence of neuroinflammation in the brains of mouse fetuses exposed to diesel exhaust, and increased immune activity in areas of the brain that control metabolism
Pregnant mice exposed to high levels of air pollution gave birth to offspring with a significantly higher rate of obesity and insulin resistance in adulthood than those that were not exposed to air pollution. This effect seemed especially prevalent in male mice, which were heavier regardless of diet. These findings, published online in the FASEB Journal, suggests a link between diesel exhaust exposure in utero and bulging waistlines in adulthood.
“It is becoming clearer that our environment profoundly affects our health in ways that are little understood,” said Jessica L. Bolton, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, NC. “We believe these data have important implications for health disparities as a consequence of socioeconomic conditions, in which low income neighborhoods tend to be disproportionately exposed to high levels of pollution, which we hope will inform policy and regulation decisions.”
And I thought people caught fat from fat prople. Now they catch it from fumes?
Obesity ‘Virus’ Spreads Like Common Cold, Scientists Say
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482788,00.html
The ability of animals to survive on less food is bad?
So some poor mouse had to suck a tailpipe for months and then that’s a legitimate study? Yeah. Right.
Let me state this once again – mice and rats are NOT good analogs for humans. They are merely cheap lab tools for sensing POSSIBLE issues. Proper protocols call for follow-on studies with better animal analogs and combining that with field studies of human populations supposedly at risk. duh.
“Heavier regardless of diet,” eh? Huh. Whaddya know….