7/10/2007

Physicians and researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, may have discovered a natural way to fill in “crow’s feet” and remove unwanted fat in the thigh and abdominal areas. Physicians were able to block a natural chemical, neuropeptide Y, to prevent the development of fat in laboratory animals, according to a study published online in the July 1 issue of Nature Medicine.

Study coauthor Stephen Baker, MD, DDS, told the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) that the natural chemical could induce a person’s own body to remove or add fat. The ASPS, which partially funded the study, calls the study revolutionary for cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.

Baker says that studies in humans may not begin for another 2 years.

[July 10, ASPS]