Ahh, The Life Of A Mouse!

It seems like there is a never ending stream of medical breakthroughs for mice. I suppose to balance my envy for the mice getting all the good things, what isn’t published is articles about the dumpsters full of failed attempts at making mice sick and then curing them.

One of the latest mouse breakthroughs has to do with a hormone that may be a significant breakthrough in fighting both obesity and diabetes. The hormone is gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor blockade. In a nutshell it is a naturally occurring hormone that is secreted in response to food intake and in particular high fat intake. What caused this hormone to stand out is that it has a particularly long lasting presence after the intake of high fat foods, leading researchers to query whether it might be a key player in metabolizing fat.

The study is sorely in need of an acronym. Called “GIP Receptor Antagonism Reverses Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and Associated Metabolic Disturbances Induced in Mice by Prolonged Consumption of High-Fat Diet”, it did show laboratory promise to significantly impact the effects of a high fat diet on lipid and glucose levels.

While it would be great to think that the world would wake up one day with a driving desire to get health and get in shape, even it that did happen it would likely be followed by the reality that driving desires often fade quickly. The truth is that without medical breakthroughs and especially those breakthroughs that simply boost our body’s natural abilities, many are doomed to lose the battles with obesity and diabetes.

Bottom line. From a life insurance standpoint, getting weight and diabetes under control are huge victories. Being able to reverse the direction completely would be both a life changing and life insurance rate changing home run. Let’s hear it for the mice that are leading the way. My prayer is that each of these successes with our rodent friends will lead to life changing successes for people.