- Changes in globesity can not be accounted for by genes.
- The addictive behaviors underlying some cases of obesity may be hardwired.
- May be epigenetic — maternal prenatal diet, especially sugars and high fructose corn syrup, effect fetal preferences.
- There have been reports of a subset of patients who have undergone bariatric weight loss surgery for obesity, and therefore are less likely to be able to consume food in excess, who later develop other addictive behaviors such as:
– gambling– substance abuse (especially alcoholism)– impulsive spending References
- Wendling A, Wudyka A. Narcotic addiction following gastric bypass surgery–a case study. Obes Surg. May 2011; 21(5), 680-683.
- Blum K, Bailey J, Gonzalez AM, et al. Neuro-Genetics of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) as the Root Cause of “Addiction Transfer”: A New Phenomenon Common after Bariatric Surgery. Journal of genetic syndrome & gene therapy. Dec 23 2011; 2012(1).
- Conason A, Teixeira J, Hsu CH, Puma L, Knafo D, Geliebter A. Substance Use Following Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery. Archives of surgery. Oct 15 2012, 1-6.
- Sasaki A, de Vega WC, St-Cyr S, Pan P, McGowan PO. Perinatal high fat diet alters glucocorticoid signaling and anxiety behavior in adulthood. Neuroscience 2013; 240, 1-12.
- Curtis E, Cheah J, Harvey NC. Prenatal nutritional influence on skeletal development. World Review of nutrition and dietetics. 2013; 106, 46-51.
