Posted in
food,
health on
July 5, 2010 – 2:25 pm
Hemopressin supresses pleasure eating by affecting the reward centre of the brain.
A naturally-occurring appetite suppressant has been discovered by UK scientists, who say it could pave the way for a diet drug without side effects.
It may also have the potential to treat aspects of alcohol and drug abuse.
Hemopressin is a small bit of protein which works by affecting the reward centres of the brain associated with pleasurable experiences such as eating, sex and drug highs.
“It has long been known that the rewarding aspects of feeding behaviour influence our appetite, so that sometimes we eat for pleasure rather than hunger.
“By reducing hedonistic feeding, it is possible to help people lose weight by quenching the desire to eat,” said study co-author Dr Garron Dodd, from the Faculty of Life Science at the University of Manchester.
The scientists gave hemopressin to mice and monitored their feeding and other behaviours. They found that while the amount they ate decreased, their behaviour patterns remained the same.
Six years ago, a synthetic anti-obesity product – Rimonabant – was developed which also acted on the brain to suppress appetite as well as reducing fat deposition. However, it was later withdrawn from the market due to side effects such as depression and increased suicidal thoughts.
But Dr Dodd believes that the naturally-occurring hemopressin may not cause such side effects.
“This is a newly discovered peptide and we do not know yet exactly where it is expressed in the brain,” he said.
“This discovery does however offer new insights into how the brain controls appetite, and opens new avenues by which to manipulate this brain circuitry and aid the development of anti-obesity treatments.”
Dr Dodds said his team now plan to carry out further research to find out if hemopressin has a long lasting effect. They also need to establish whether their findings can be confirmed in people.
Posted in
jobs,
money on
July 5, 2010 – 11:25 am
Very simple and obvious: buy currency cheap and sell for more! The trading income profit is generated from the fluctuations (changes) in the currency exchange market.
The nice thing about the forex (fx) trading market, is that regular daily fluctuations, say – around 1%, are multiplied by 100! If, for example, the exchange rate of “your” pair of currencies increased by 0.6% in the last 4 hours, your Forex Income will be 60% on your investment! Such can happen in one business day, or in a few hours, even minutes when FOREX Trading. Moreover, you cannot lose more than your “margin”! You may profit unlimited amounts, but you never lose more than what you initially risked and invested.
You can implement your choice (the pair of currencies, the volume amount) under any direction to which the market is moving, and yet make profit. It does not matter whether the exchange rate is going up or down: you can always decide to buy Euro and sell dollar, or vice versa – buy dollar and sell Euro. You don’t have to physically possess certain currencies in order to perform “buy” or “sell” with them. This is how to achieve a Forex Trading Income.
I’d recommend a site, www.forex-income.co.uk, which you can take a look around to get lots of tips on how to make an income from Forex. Use the search box to look for opportunities, or browse the links.
Posted in
music,
north east england on
April 12, 2010 – 12:24 pm
As some of you will know, i’m an avid gig-goer. I like to go to as many concerts as I can, including old farts and also new acts. Last week we went to see Bad Company at Newcastle Arena. Price of tickets was £40 per head. The band had got back together to do one last tour after Paul Rodgers decided that ‘Queen and Paul Rodgers’ perhaps wasn’t a good idea. We could have told him it wouldn’t work, but he had to find out for himself. Anyhow, the gig was good in all it’s grey haired splendour, with those attending no doubt in conflict over whether to go to the Arena or to have a raucous night in browsing the latest SAGA brochure.
Anyhow, about 3 weeks ago we applied for tickets to see The Union – a band put together by Luke Morley of Thunder fame, and a local blues guitarist called Peter Shoulder from Chester-le-Street. Peter used to be in a rather excellent combo called Winterville, who cut one rather equally splendid album, then split up. At the other end of the scale from the BC tickets, these were only a tenner, but five days before the gig, they still hadn’t arrived. A phone call to the ticket agency revealed that the promoter hadn’t yet sent them out. They assured me that I’d either get them in time, or else there’d be a pass on the door for us.
The tickets did arrive, but unfortunately the agency sent them out so I had to sign for them, and i’d gone out, so the said tickets were returned to the post office. This meant a trip to pick them up, early on Monday morning, before work. I got a taxi and picked up the tickets and that left a bus ride to work. I was out of cash, so took a short walk to the nearest ATM, just as the hourly bus to work blew past with a ‘you missed me, tough’ look on the face of the driver. I then found out that the next one wouldn’t be along any time soon. This left me stuck in sunny Spennymoor with no method of escape!
Taxi to work wasn’t an option. Well, it was an option, but it would have meant me essentially working for nowt today, so I booked a holiday, hopped on a bus Gus, and headed in totally the opposite direction. Here I am, sitting in a cafe in paradise (well ok, Durham Market, maybe not the one Bill Nelson wrote about, so i’m not naked, or in fact loaded as a dice.). The sun is out and the sky is blue and I’m now eating an unforseen Rock Bun. You can never usually plan Rock Buns too well, and this is a perfect example of that.
The day has developed from just another day at work to a rather splendid, unplanned visit to a Rock Bun Factory, with free MarketWAP, so I can type as I eat and tell you about my feast. Quality.
Posted in
money,
website authoring on
March 10, 2010 – 3:49 pm
Been working on my Lake District Sports website in the last couple of weeks. It’s been due an overhaul for ages, and now I’ve moved everything from my PC based editing suite to Mac, the experience of website authoring has totally changed (for the better in my opinion).
I’m now using a program called Sandvox, which is excellent for what I use it for. I like to use software that will make it easy to integrate Google Adsense ads into my site as I make part of my income from these. Sandvox fits the bill perfectly.
Lake District Sports is a site that features all of the outdoor sports you can take part in in the Lake District in Cumbria. It’s not designed to promote any particular company, but rather to open your eyes to all the things you have a choice of doing when wisiting Cumbria.
www.lakedistrictsports.co.uk
Posted in
food,
football on
February 7, 2010 – 11:19 pm
It’s 10:30 at night, Match of the Day is on TV, but all I can think about is food. I’m starving! I’ve already had a bowl of chocolate weetabix minis and a caramel chunky kitkat, but they haven’t worked and my belly is still gurgling away and I’m getting very frustrated. I’m even considering a bowl of soup now. Trouble is, all I’ve got is French Onion and Cream of Asparagus. What on Earth made me buy those two? There must be something better in there to do a job on my hunger? Oh hang on – yes! yes! I’ve found a tin of Tomato stuff! Marvellous. Straight in the microwave with that then………… and it seems to have worked. Now settling down to watch the Mackems on telly. I know I went to the game, and watched it last night. It’s on again now. Bet we still don’t win. 
