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IN PHOTO: A passenger waits for a delayed flight at Heathrow airport's terminal four in London August 12, 2006. As healthcare costs in such heavyweight nations as the United States and heavy-smoking locations as Dundee keep rising, and as governments move to cut huge budget deficits, hundreds of local authorities, employers and health insurers - even the occasional former investment banker - are dabbling with health incentive schemes. The idea is simple: pay people to act now and governments will reap the rewards later in lower healthcare costs. Statistically speaking, people who shun harmful habits are more productive and have less need for expensive hospitals, doctors and medicines. Picture taken August 12, 2006. To match Special Report HEALTH-INCENTIVES/ REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files

The multi-billion-dollar slimming industry has been looking for a miracle drug for weight loss. Scientists have looked into coffee, nuts, ginseng, and dandelions and many others, but nothing has excited the scientific community as Tripterygium Wilfordi or thunder god vine, which has given positive results in mice. A study shows that this plant, which is extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine, has reported 45 percent reduction in body weight in obese mice.

The billion-dollar weight loss industry has been constantly on the hunt for the miracle weight loss pill. The most recent success was the African plant called Hoodia, which apparently could quell hunger. But with thunder god vine, scientists claim to have found the ultimate cure. The extract of the plant helps to increase Leptin, which suppresses the appetite. In a study published in the Journal Cell, scientists have found that Leptin resistance is the main cause for increased appetites. So if Leptin is secreted then it signals the brain to stop eating.

As per the report, researchers found that the compound Celastrol found in thunder god vine was most effective in suppressing the resistance to Leptin. Studies done with obese mice have proven that Celastrol enabled Leptin secretion, which suppressed appetite and resulted in weight loss. According to Umut Ozcan, an endocrinologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, “If Celastrol works in humans as it does in mice, it could be a powerful way to treat obesity and improve the health of many patients suffering from obesity and associated complications, such as heart disease, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes."

But researchers warn that this extract should not be considered as a miracle pill, which still requires extensive research and testing. But it has been established that without Leptin, both mice and men continue to eat voraciously, leading to morbid obesity. Any drug, which would not suppress Leptin, would be the answer to weight gain, and thunder god vine may be the right one.

For questions/comments regarding the article, you may email the writer at honeygeorge74.ibtimes@gmail.com.

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