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Australian and British researchers believe they know why
people who give up smoking gain weight. The researchers, from the International
Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Deakin University in Geelong and the University
of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, studied the levels of the hormone leptin in male smokers
and non-smokers from Nauru, Western Somoa and Mauritius. Leptin, discovered only
two years ago, controls appetite. Nicotine, according to the research, acts on
the brain and makes smokers more sensitive to leptin. Their appetite is
suppressed, says Paul Zimmet, leader of the research team. But when a
person stops smoking, the brain becomes less sensitive to leptin. “So they eat
more,” Zimmet says. The research was published last month in the
International Journal of Obesity. Knowledge gained during the study, which
may lead to new treatments for obesity, has been licensed to Autogen, an
Australian biotechnology company.