Contagious obesity? Identifying the human adenoviruses that may make us fat

I know that this is an older post, but I had the same problem. Very pretty, active, slim little girl in ballet, tap, and jazz. Got Chicken Pox when I was 8-9 and porked out. Eating habits didn't really change. Energy levels became lower. I too have been diagnosed with PCOS in addition to Endometriosis, Insulin Resistance, and Hypercholesterolemia. This is definately a very interesting correlation to think about.

my girl crazy, man!

In 1980 shortly after joining the military I got some sort of illness that the military never diagnosed. I lost 12 pounds while is was sick. It left me tired and weak with mental confusion for 12 months after the symptoms left. In 1989 after repeated exposure to second hand smoke I had more respiratory illnesses. While I took the powerful antibiotics I slept most of the time and was not awake enough to eat much food. I gained 15 pounds and I have never since had the same energy level.
Now each time I get sick I gain weight. Doctors have also put me on anti depressant meds for headaches and I have gained weight. Nothing I have done to loose the weight has worked. Deep in my soul something is telling that there is something to this fat virus/gene. Shauna Pearce

This is very interesting. The same thing happened to me when I was 17. I averaged around 135-145lbs and looked quite fit and desirable. Suddenly, I moved in with a man (did not change my diet and eat more) at age 17. I suddenly experienced illness and fatigue. I also experienced rapid weight gain. Between August and December of the same year I went from 145lbs to 220lbs. I was NOT overeating. My diet had NOT changed significantly. I went to the doctor and numerous blood tests were done and everything came out normal, thyroid and all. This was in 1999. Since then I have remained mostly steady around 220lbs, sometimes getting up to 240lbs and with dieting being able to get down to 205. My symptoms were mostly nausea and fatigue, (that was noticeable), however none of this testing was done until after the weight increase was complete.

From the study the evidence supports the idea that AD-36 is the cause of stem cells tranforming to fat cells and these fat being more "fatty" then usual. The immune system eventually destories the virus, leaving the extra fat cells which do what fat cells do, accumulate fat.

Why do skinny people test positive for AD-36? They may have caught AD-36, but there immune system reacted quickly enough to kill the virus before it could do much harm. They may have had a jump start by having had another in the adenovirus family, that does not promote weight gain. There may be other genetic or environmental contibutors. Follow-up studies would be interesting on these possibilities.

Why do not all fat people test positive for AD-36? There are many reasons for weight gain. Nothing in the study suggests infection is required for weight gain. Only that infection CAN lead to weight gain in SOME people.

That being said, there is no reason anyone should avoid fat people. The weight gain occurs after infectious period. The contrary is more appropiate. Fat people are more likely to have already had and got over the infectious virus. Skinny people with pink eye and respiritory colds are the ones you should avoid.

this sounds really interesting.
from my own experience, i gained massive amounts of weight (pounds per week) with no obvious cause.
my occupation was manual - landscape gardener - regularly shifting tons of soil, digging etc.
i ate my usual foods but i began putting the weight on.
for a period of 9 months i had bad problems digesting food (for anyone squeamish...the toilet was my friend), and still my weight increased.
eventually, aching, exhausted, and with unrelenting severe, stomach pains, i got diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
the doctor never took the weight-gain symptom seriously, but it was the first obvious sign of my health problem (whatever this illness really is).
all of this has ended up with me being 6 stone heavier than i used to be, virtually housebound, and extremely frustrated at being unable to follow my old interests - motor-cycling, running, soccer and squash.
i was always 'skinny' and very active, i didn't eat rubbish and i didn't have the time or inclination to slob about watching tv... what happened???

Thank you for your thoughtful comment about the adenovirus. I receive intuitive information from my subconscious and was informed that I had caught a virus from eating chicken and that it was making me fat and to stay away from chicken. Everything I eat has some effect on my body and even though I might not remember it consciously, my subconscious collects millions of bits of information for my use. Thank you for being so intelligent and perceptive.

We sat down with psychologist Dr. Cheryl Fraser to get a professional interpretation of this study. It was quite interesting. You can watch the video on our blog:
http://dabbler.pinkandyellow.com/videos/is-obesity-contagious-20070727/

or watch it on MetaCafe:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/740917/is_obesity_contagious/

Dabbler.ca

The drug companies will continue to find new ways to sell perscription drugs. this is nothing more than another attempt to keep people buying. - Control.

Diet foods for example do nothing to curb obesity or even over wieght. Most diet foods contain chemicals that make you "feel" hungry. Not to mention the mental tought of "oh it's diet - I can have another" way of thinking. My inlaws are overwieght, they eat diet foods all there life - none of them have lost wieght - hummm. - Control.

Perscription drugs is a multi-billion dollar a year industry - WAKE UP PEOPLE!!
The federal government has mandated that only a Doctor can Diagnose and treat a disease. If this becomes a disease, say good by to all forms of diet programs not approved by the FDA. - Control.

Aids - there will never be a cure. Why? - Sell more drugs and treatment.
Herpies - there will never be a cure. Why? - Sell more drugs and treatment.
Cancer - there will never be a cure. Why? - Sell more drugs and treatment.
Common cold - there will never be a cure. Why? - Sell more drugs and treatment.
Control.

You can by stock in most "disease" reserch, including cancer and aids - if they find a cure they are out of busness. - Control.

This is nothing more than a cop-out point the finger I don't want to take the resposibility for my own body. IF by slim chance this is even remotly possible - then we need to quarentien ALL fat people imediatly! And by the way - I am infected with BSD (Bad Speller Disease)

I was very ill during my first pregnancy with an upper respiratory infection...complication from allergies ...and asthmatic bronchitis. I gained 80 lbs, and have tried everything to lose it. I was always able to lose weight quickly and easily before then, and was very thin and athletic . Now even with diet and excercise equal to what I used to do, and more so ..I have not been able to lose, and have gained more over the years..even when dieting! My son also has trouble with his weight, and gains very easily. If it was a virus during my pregnancy with him, than that could explain his problem as well. His 2 sisters are quite thin, and though only slightly younger, they eat as much as he does, without the weight gain.

This story was mocked months before it broke. By essayist and social daredevil Kim Brittingham: http://www.freshyarn.com/42/essays/brittingham_fat1.htm

I believe that the theory or hypothesis link of obesity to a viral infection is stating that it may be the cause of some cases of obesity. And it may be the cause of some cases of obesity that have in the past been presumed to be based on heredity or genetics.

If there is a virus, which has been proven scientifically be a medical doctor researcher from India, to be linked to cause the symtom of obesity, and that virus is contagous, then family members may expose each other causing them all to come down with the symtom of "obesity", just like any other virus, such as chicken pox.

I just watched a documentary on Ad-36, which doesn't make me an expert, but presumably I now know more than many of the previous people who've commented here:

They checked a pair of twins who had very different body weights (which is said to be unusual, since identical twins tend to maintain nearly identical weights). The fatter twin tested positive for antibodies for the adenovirus; the skinny (normal) twin tested negative, meaning she had not been exposed. That seems like a pretty positive confirmation.

The documentary suggested that fat people are not contagious... the virus comes along, modifies a bunch of "pre-fat" cells turning them into regular fat cells, and doesn't stick around. The damage is done, and probably cannot be reversed.

They tested a bunch of people in the UK; a substantial portion of the obese people did test positive for exposure to the adenovirus. The lean people that were tested as a control sample were all negative.

The virus can't be blamed for all the overweight people, but even if it's only 1/4, that's a heck of a lot of unwanted jiggling cellulite, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, humiliation and frustration that could be easily preventable if there were a vaccine against these adenoviruses.

I have an answer to your weight gain that may not have been considered. Remember it may not be the only answer. Probably you were given Antibiotics. Antibiotics are given to animals to fatten them and cause weight gain.

I personally suspect that the principal issue in the modern epidemic of obesity is actually modern industrial farming. The process strips the food of base nutrients like trace minerals and produces a food which causes malnutrition. Canada has studied this in depth and the data is there. The varieties of foods as well have been altered for this purpose of causing more food demand. Modern Agricultural banking will not fund alternative methods and varieties.

The basic fact is that animals will not given a balanced diet overeat and become fat in any real quantity. This imbalance of diet is deliberate in modern fatening operations for farming. The cows will never get fat like they do in a feed lot if given a natural decent diet. This fact is plain for the issue of fat people as well. Given what is essentially a feedlot diet they get fat.

No doubt infections do influence this as well. The other posts on this forum remarking on hygene also are very realistic. This is a complex problem set.

Not all viruses act the same for all people. Some could be carriers.

I agree with you that overweight people may suffer further discrimination because of this announcement. If the science is flawed then I condemn the media attention

However, if obesity genuinely is virus-bourne, then we need this news to spread. Reducing the spread of the disease will not be helped by a shrouding the facts with well-meaning discretion. In this instance, let's not let short-term sympathetic objections cloud the objective manner in which we must approach this issue.

I think that is a very reasonable hypothesis.

I find not one shread of truth in this article.

Assuming this holds up to scrutiny, it will be interesting to ask how such a virus got into the human population. The article implies that this happened recently (else it would not account for a recently-observed statistical uptick in obesity, contradicting the suggestions in the article).

One might reasonably wonder if the industrialization of the chicken industry since WWII selected for this virus, which then found its way into human beings through the food supply. In other words, perhaps economic pressure to raise nice fat birds cheaply tended to make the virus more prevalent in chickens, increasing the likelyhood of eventual transmission to humans.

I'm not one to go against scientific studies, but this one really got me interested in what are people thinking. Seriously, if obesity can now be classified as a contagious disease, then we should begin rounding up all the fat people into concentration camps to save the skinny people. Or better yet, have the obese march down to your local social services building and demand disablity because not only is being obese classified as a disease, you are now a detriment to society and should not be allowed into the workplace. Along those same lines, I know a good laywer that would sue for damages because now all the obese people would become xenophobic. And if we want to continue this slippery sloped logic, I know the leader of a small european nation that would love an excuse to terminate the lives of another 3 million people (although the stampede might not be worth it). On a serious note, to say that one can catch obesity is not only dangerous but fool-hardy, perhaps more research should have been done before making a claim as large(pardon the pun) as this. I do hope that the scientists involved get their funding so that they don't have to scrub the tests after 3 weeks. On a personal note, my wife is large and one of my daughters is large, however, niether myself nor my youngest is large, proving that in the 6 years I've been married I have not "caught" fat. Enjoy your cake, and avoid the obese!!

One would think that a very thin person would suddenly become obese after "catching" the virus -- without changes to their eating or exercise regimen. Is there any evidence to suggest that this is the case? I have never heard of any "mystery" obesity cases which have risen out of no where. Also the obesity epidemic is rising in children even more than adults - why would a virus distinguish between the two (or if the answer is that older generations are resistant, why would that be the case?) Overall the conclusions of this study sound highly questionable even based on anecdotal evidence.