I just watched an episode of House and he diagnosed a girl with Cushing’s – an illness that can cause obesity.
How is that possible? I was under the impression that our bodies use energy we get from food, and if it doesn’t get the food it’ll burn fat resulting in us getting slimmer – how can a disease change that?
How does it not go against some laws of thermodynamics? Maybe I’m just being silly.
In: Biology
>How is that possible? I was under the impression that our bodies use energy we get from food
That’s understandable normal circumstances.
You know that cortisol is a stress hormone; if you go hungry you will have a spike in cortisol, this makes you alert and motivated to find food. So you already see a connection here. When you get your food insulin is stimulated; it acts antagonistically to cortisol, so you relax. But if you have constant stimulation of cortisol, fats are not distributed equally, so people with Cushing’s gain weight around their abdomen mainly, as people with diabetes; as there is constant demand to up the insulin production. As a result of that constant struggle between insulin and cortisol most patients will develop diabetes.
Cortisol usually seeks to protect you, so it will force you to eat fatty foods and sugars, which you will notice in people with Cushing’s, after having a good meal they will keep nibbling or ask for something sweet.
Another reason, cortisol restricts energy expenditure. Essentially to the muscles, that is why they have muscle weakness. So essentially you are in constant saving mode, a lot of calories in, very little out.
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