Scientists have found out that humans have three times the amount of brown fat than previously known. The brown fat in a person's body can be burned by energy faster than white fat.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, has observed the PET scans of 1,644 patients. Almost 3,000 PET scans were analyzed. PET is the acronym of positron emission tomography. It is a method widely used in oncology. It sees metabolic activities in the body.
"A byproduct of PET scans is that they allow us to see active brown adipose tissue," according to Dr. Tobias Fromme from the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Center at the Technical University of Munich. "Brown adipose tissue absorbs lots of sugar, and we can observe this activity through the scans."
With this new discovery, a drug that can increase the activity of the brown fat may possibly lessen the extreme blood sugar levels in diabetics. Similarly, an obese person can use a drug that will fasten the activity of his or her brown fat. Their excess body weight will melt away with it, TUM reported. The drugs that utilize brown adipose tissue can be increased. It will be adjusted on how much the person needs it, said the researcher.
According to Science Daily, there are people who can activate the brown fat activities easily. Also, there are individuals who have more brown fat than the others. Moreover, like the previous studies, women, younger people and skinny people have more brown fat in their body. Additionally, the fat and older people have slower brown fat activities than the previously mentioned group of people.
This discovery somehow explains why some people do not gain fat easily. Even if there are thin people who eat more than their fat counterparts, they do not gain weight easily. This can be solved now with new drugs that can give more brown fat or activate the brown fat in an individual's body. Further research is still needed with this finding to determine its side effects.
