Dr. Purna Kashyap and Dr. Vandana Nehra, both gastroenterologists at Mayo Clinic, share the findings of their research on how your individual gut bacteria may affect your ability to lose weight. This interview originally aired Sept. 1, 2018.
Speaking after his TEDxUCD 2016 talk Dr Andrew Hogan said, “Obesity is a national epidemic and is responsible for 4,000 deaths per year in Ireland. One in four Irish adults are obese and only three in ten are registering a healthy bodyweight. More concerning is the fact that one in five Irish children are now overweight or obese and international studies have shown that obese children have an 82% chance of becoming obese adults. As a result it is predicted that the current generation of children will have a lower life expectancy than their parents as obesity causes numerous diseases including heart disease and cancer.”
“As I outlined in my TEDxUCD 2016 talk the current solution to the obesity crisis is lifestyle modification, but meta-analysis indicates that weight gain is 90% irreversible for 90% of the population. So the question is why can’t we lose weight? Could the immune system be protecting us from weight loss and can it be used in the fight against obesity?”
Andrew is very passionate about childhood obesity and is keen to raise awareness of the problem and the imperative for prevention. His research focuses on the impact of obesity on the immune system and the role of the immune system in controlling bodyweight.
In 2009 he was awarded a Newman Fellowship with the Obesity Immunology Research Group to investigate the impact of obesity on the immune system. In 2012 Andrew received a Senior Research Fellowship from the National Children’s Research Centre to investigate if childhood obesity negatively impacts the immune system.
Andrew graduated with a BSc (Biology) from Maynooth University before undertaking his PhD there investigating the crosstalk between immune cells, with the aim of harnessing the immune system for novel therapies against cancer.
Twitter: @AndyHogan82 and @ucdmedicine
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
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