Fattened monkeys as a "proxi" to human obesity?
BEYOND. In today's edition of The New York Times (cover page) was published an article about using monkeys in different primate research centers to study obesity in humans. The main centers are the Oregon National Primate Research Center and the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. Some studies are reporting results on how high fructose corn syrup appears to accelerate the development of obesity and diabetes. While these results sound promising, we should ask if this animal model (closer to us than rats) and the treatment applied (specific diet and intake) is a real "proxi" to human diet / lifestyle and human reaction to that particular experimental conditions. Monkeys (macaques and baboons) are pushed to changed their diets and lifestyles (wild vs. cage) in a short (really short) period of time; while humans are dealing with lifestyle and diet changes since the agriculture revolution (approximately 12,000 ya). In my graduate class (last Fall) about human evolution in health and disease (ANTH 650), and a recent seminar in a colleague's class (ANTH 612) we discussed human obesity taking into consideration the evolutionary perspective, where not only today's diet and lifestyle must be analyzed but past environments and habits must be included in the discussion.
I was happy when reading in the same article (NYT) a colleague's comment where he points out that he "prefers animals that become naturally obese with age, just as many humans do".
BEYOND. In today's edition of The New York Times (cover page) was published an article about using monkeys in different primate research centers to study obesity in humans. The main centers are the Oregon National Primate Research Center and the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. Some studies are reporting results on how high fructose corn syrup appears to accelerate the development of obesity and diabetes. While these results sound promising, we should ask if this animal model (closer to us than rats) and the treatment applied (specific diet and intake) is a real "proxi" to human diet / lifestyle and human reaction to that particular experimental conditions. Monkeys (macaques and baboons) are pushed to changed their diets and lifestyles (wild vs. cage) in a short (really short) period of time; while humans are dealing with lifestyle and diet changes since the agriculture revolution (approximately 12,000 ya). In my graduate class (last Fall) about human evolution in health and disease (ANTH 650), and a recent seminar in a colleague's class (ANTH 612) we discussed human obesity taking into consideration the evolutionary perspective, where not only today's diet and lifestyle must be analyzed but past environments and habits must be included in the discussion.
I was happy when reading in the same article (NYT) a colleague's comment where he points out that he "prefers animals that become naturally obese with age, just as many humans do".
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