A ‘fat controller’ in the gut could be the key to preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease, research suggests.

Scientists have pinpointed an enzyme that determines whether the fat we eat is burnt off as energy or stored in the body.

The breakthrough raises the prospect of a pill being developed which targets the enzyme in people, allowing them to eat without worrying about putting on weight.

The researchers said: ‘Our studies identify MGAT2 as a key determinant of energy metabolism in response to dietary fat and suggest that the inhibition of this enzyme may prove to be a useful strategy for treating obesity and other metabolic diseases associated with excessive fat intake.’

With almost a quarter of men and women obese and children faring little better, such a drug is likely to have mass appeal.

Even more appealing is the prospect of a pill that makes the body fit, as well as keeping it slim.

Last year, US scientists unveiled an experimental drug which fools the muscles into thinking they have worked long and hard, boosting fitness as well as burning off fat.

The British government apologised Wednesday after a damning official report into a hospital likened by one patient’s relative to “a Third World” health centre. Stafford Hospital in central England was found to have appalling standards of care, putting patients at risk and leading to some dying, according to a report on Tuesday. Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period at the National Health Service (NHS) hospital, according to an investigation by the Healthcare Commission watchdog.

Receptionists with no medical training were left to to assess patients arriving at the hospital’s accident and emergency department, the report found. Julie Bailey, whose 86-year-old mother Bella died in the hospital in November 2007, said she and other family members slept in a chair at her bedside for eight weeks because they were so concerned about poor care. “What we saw in those eight weeks will haunt us for the rest of our lives,” said the 47-year-old. “We saw patients drinking out of flower vases they were so thirsty.

“There were patients wandering around the hospital and patients fighting. It was continuous through the night. Patients were screaming out in pain because you just could not get pain relief. “It was like a Third World country hospital. It was an absolute disgrace.”

I had a friend once who was admitted to a Caribbean hospital which will go unnamed. When the hospital ran out of hot water, and he required a hot water pack, they just filled it up with coffee. Problem solved!

Yep… Definitely Terrorists

COLUMBIA, Mo. | A new document meant to help Missouri law enforcement agencies identify militia members or domestic terrorists has drawn criticism for some of the warning signs mentioned.

The Feb. 20 report called “The Modern Militia Movement” mentions such red flags as political bumper stickers for third-party candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president last year; talk of conspiracy theories, such as the plan for a superhighway linking Canada to Mexico; and possession of subversive literature.

“It seems like they want to stifle political thought,” said Roger Webb, president of the University of Missouri campus Libertarians. “There are a lot of third parties out there, and none of them express any violence. In fact, if you join the Libertarian Party, one of the things you sign in your membership application is that you don’t support violence as a means to any ends.” But state law enforcement officials said the report is being misinterpreted.

Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the report comes from publicly available, trend data on militias.
“All this is an educational thing,” Hotz said of the report. “Troopers have been shot by members of groups, so it’s our job to let law enforcement officers know what the trends are in the modern militia movement.”

A BIZARRE hospital-themed restaurant in Latvia is serving food resembling body parts with surgical utensils.

Decked out in a sterile, modern medical environment and boasting scantily clad nurses, the Hospitalis in Riga serves hearty Latvian dishes and a macabre cake topped with realistic-looking body parts such as fingers, noses and tongues.

Served on gurneys and operating tables, the restaurant provides diners with cutlery such as syringes, tweezers and scalpels to devour their meals.

That line is for you. No YOU! No YOU!

Irish prime minister Brian Cowen repeats Barack Obama speech as White House teleprompter fouls up | guardian.co.uk — This whole teleprompter thing may as well be replaced by lip sync-ing.

But when Brian Cowen began his address last night, his speech had a horribly familiar ring to it. And no wonder: he had been repeating exactly what Obama had said minutes earlier.

The autocue was apparently the cause of this embarrassing case of deja vu. Rather than being ready with Cowens speech, the teleprompting machine simply reloaded the one Obama had just given.

Cowen was around 20 seconds into the wrong speech before he realised his gaffe. He stopped suddenly and looked back at the president to say: “Thats your speech.”

The family from Blackburn claim £22,508 a year in benefits, equivalent to the take-home pay from a £30,000 salary. The Chawners, haven’t worked in 11 years, claim their weight is a hereditary condition and the money they receive is insufficient to live on.

Mr Chawner said: “What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It’s not our fault we can’t work. We deserve more.”

The family claim to spend £50 a week on food and consume 3,000 calories each a day. The recommended maximum intake is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.

“We have cereal for breakfast, bacon butties for lunch and microwave pies with mashed potato or chips for dinner,” Mrs Chawner told Closer magazine. “All that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive. We’re fat because it’s in our genes. Our whole family is overweight,” she added.

Found by Joe Carlson.