Obesity

Douglas et al. 2012 report that having afternoon snacks influence appetite-control and eating initiation in women. Regardless of protein content, snacks reduced hunger and delayed the demand for dinner by up to 120 minutes compared to persons having no snacks.

Doehner et al. 2012 report that overweight or obese patients with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack have better survival rates and recovery of dependency or recurent stroke, than patients with normal body weight. The worst outcomes present underweight patients. The same applies for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and bypass surgery patients. [1]

Women who often drink soft drinks high in sugar almost every day are more likely to have a ischemic stroke than women who rarely drink sodas and other sweetened beverages. A study of Eshak et al. 2012 found that women who rarely had a soft drink 1.7% experienced an ischemic stroke, and 3% of women who had a soft drink a day had an ischemic stroke.  [1]

Tobbia et al 2012 report the case of a 70-year-old woman which developed a life-threatening ventricular fibrillation following obesity treatment with phentermine. Recurrent ventricular fibrillation were caused by a coronary artery vasospasm. Discontinuing phentermine use the woman remained symptom free. [1]

The PTEN gene is the cause of increased sensitivity to the hormone insulin. Aparna Pal et al. 2012 write that the PTEN gene may become a target for drugs to fight insulin resistance, the cause of type 2 diabetes. The PTEN gene encodes for an enzyme that is part of the insulin signalling pathway in the body. It is known to have a role in controlling the body's metabolism, and to play a part in cell growth. [1]

The signalling pathway, acting downstream of the hedgehog protein enables muscle cells and brown fat cells to absorb sugars without relying on insulin. Substances that selectively activate the signalling pathway could thus be utilized in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. [1]

Gut bacteria from the phylum Firmicutes increase the body's intake of calories from food. The microbiota increase epithelial lipid droplets (LD) number formation in the intestinal epithelium and liver in a diet dependent manner. Intake of food leads to an increase of Firmicutes bacteria in the intestine,  increasing the number of small-sized epithelial LD number, whereas LD size was increased by other bacterial types.

A non-communicable disease, or NCD, is a medical condition or disease which is non-infectious and non-transmissible between persons.  They include autoimmune diseases, heart disease, stroke, many cancers, asthma, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, cataracts, and more.

Defining the human being as an individual developed out of a fertilised egg containing genes from father and mother is insufficient to describe an individual. Microbiologists increase the scope of the definition by including the notion of  an  ecosystem which also embraces bacteria, fungi and archaea. This aggregate of microorganisms  resides on the surface and in deep layers of skin, in the saliva and oral mucosa, in the conjunctiva, and in the gastrointestinal tracts and is known as  human microbiome. [1]