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Could a simple skin patch effectively eliminate ‘love handles’?

19/09/2017

Could a simple skin patch effectively eliminate ‘love handles’?

Whether you call them love handles or muffin tops, the areas of built up fat that can appear above your waistline are something that many people would love to be able to easily get rid of.


A new patch developed by scientists in the US could provide the easy fix people have been looking for.


The novel patch delivers fat-browning drugs directly into the areas of fat and converts "bad" white fat into "good" brown fat - not only reducing the amount of excess fat, but also lowering fasting blood glucose levels.


Having too much white fat - particularly around the abdominal region - can raise the risk of several health problems, including diabetes and heart disease.


So far, the patches have only been trialled on mice, but it’s hoped that they can be developed for human use in the future.


Study co-leader Li Qiang, Ph.D., from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, said the patches could offer a great alternative to existing drugs that promote fat browning. Their non-invasive nature can reduce side effects.


"The nanoparticles were designed to effectively hold the drug and then gradually collapse, releasing it into nearby tissue in a sustained way instead of spreading the drug throughout the body quickly," says study co-leader Zhen Gu, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

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