Grizzly Bears Used to Study Obesity

Researchers made use of grizzly bears in a recent study to further understand obesity and identify new treatments for the continuously growing problem.

Scientists at the U.S drug maker Amgen Inc. are experimenting with a new study that makes use of grizzly bears - one of the animals that have the biggest appetite. Dr. Kevin Corbit decided to uncover how Yogi Bear, the cartoon character, stayed healthy while gorging on food in preparation for hibernation. The Washington State University Bear Center was established 27 years ago as one of the world's facilities where grizzly bears are allowed to be examined. The research team headed by Dr. Corbit is currently in the middle of a two-year study employing 12 grizzly bears.

Dr. Corbit's team is particularly interested in knowing how a grizzly bear's cholesterol and blood pressure spikes after they take in upward of 100 pounds of fruits, nuts and salmon, and yet still remain healthy. Grizzly bears are known for losing weight after hibernation, they are also unaffected by health conditions most obese humans experience such as diabetes, heart attack and stroke. Results of the study showed that each bear was able to adjust their hormone insulin sensitivity, which is responsible for the amount of fat and sugar broken down and stored away for energy during hibernation.

The researchers found out that grizzly bears experience high insulin sensitivity while preparing for hibernation but after a few weeks into hibernation they completely shut off this sensitivity. As a result, sequencing the bear's genome "would really accelerate the discovery research for bears." In the United States alone, there are approximately 200 million men and 300 million women who are classified as obese and a growing population among these figures is also suffering from other types of obesity-related diseases.