Scientists Discover Hunger's Timekeeper
Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 00:05
in Health & Medicine
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities have identified cells in the stomach that regulate the release of a hormone associated with appetite. The group is the first to show that these cells, which release a hormone called ghrelin, are controlled by a circadian clock that is set by mealtime patterns. The finding, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has implications for the treatment of obesity and is a landmark in the decades-long search for the timekeepers of hunger.