Brown fat on the guard of health
A massive study has demonstrated the benefits of brown fat
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
In humans, like other mammals, adipose tissue is represented by white and brown fat. White serves primarily as a reserve of "extra calories", its cells accumulate one large fat drop each. There are fewer of these droplets in brown fat cells, they are not as large and are always ready for rapid processing into energy by a multitude of mitochondria. It serves as a temporary reserve and is actively consumed to maintain a normal body temperature. Doctors are actively looking for ways to turn "bad" white fat into "good" brown.
However, the benefits of brown adipose tissue are far from limited to this, its positive effect on many aspects of metabolism is known. And a team of doctors led by Paul Cohen from Rockefeller University has shown that brown fat reduces the risk of developing a number of chronic diseases. The study covered more than 50 thousand people, becoming the largest in this area. His results are presented in an article published in the journal Nature Medicine (Becher et al., Brown adipose tissue is associated with cardiometabolic health).
The fact is that brown fat is enough only in infants. With age, it almost disappears. Its volumes in adults are so small that it is possible to notice the presence of this tissue (usually around the neck and shoulders) only with the help of tomography (PET). Scientists found the right number of such scans at the Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), working next door in New York.
The PET image of the person on the left shows deposits of brown adipose tissue in the neck and thoracic spine; the person on the right has no brown fat / ©Andreas Wibmer, Heiko Schöder, MSKCC
Together with doctors, the authors studied PET scans of 52 thousand patients of the cancer center who underwent routine checks. Brown adipose tissue was found in about 10 percent of them. A study of their medical records showed that many acute and chronic conditions are less likely to be diagnosed in this group. So, among people who have retained brown fat, suffering from type 2 diabetes, only five percent – against 10 percent of the rest. Elevated cholesterol levels were observed in 19 percent – against 22.
Heart failure, coronary heart disease, and high blood pressure were also less common in them. In addition, brown fat reduced the negative effects of white. In obese people, who at the same time retained brown adipose tissue, the risk of cardiac and metabolic disorders remained at the same level as in people without obesity. Perhaps the reason is the active metabolism in the brown tissue itself. By constantly absorbing glucose, she maintains its level in the blood at a low, healthy level. Although this explains far from all the effects noticed by scientists.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru