How can diseases cause obesity?

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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

27 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even from a simple calories-in calories-out perspective, appetite changes (which are at least partly driven by hormones) tend to change the amount of food we consume. This increases calories-in, often significantly. Since hunger is one of the strongest drives for humans, it’s very, very difficult to just ignore it, but it can vary greatly between people and between situations.

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