Slashdot Mirror
Obesity Contagious?
An anonymous reader writes "University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have found that certain human viruses may cause obesity, and by extension make being severely overweight a contagious condition. 'It makes people feel more comfortable to think that obesity stems from lack of control,' the lead researcher says. 'It's a big mental leap to think you can catch obesity.' But other diseases once chalked up to environmental factors, like stomach ulcers, are now known to stem from infectious agents."
That's not what our bodies were designed for.
Wow. Intelligent design is being implied from a user named "Cro Magnon".
That's a neat bit of irony. Or at least a good excuse to take things out of context.
-- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
I didn't know popping out babies was the only way to have a life. Thanks for the insight. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go procreate!
Funny how this virus is so widespread in the United States.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the availability of junk food and the national automobile culture.
Funny how malaria is so widespread in the tropics.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the prevelance of insects that carry the disease.
Funny how sickle cell anemia is so widespread in Africa.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the genetic predisposition of many African populations.
It's not odd for diseases, infectious or otherwise, to have geographical variance. Why are you so dismissive of this possibility for this particular virus?