Obesity has two known causes so far: it may hereditary or it may be an effect of overeating. In turn, overeating itself has multiple causes: the lack of self-control or restraint when it comes to food, using food to fight depression, lack of daily activities, boredom and even parental negligence when it comes to children’s diets.

More and more teenagers and preteens are significantly overweight, mostly due to lack of supervision and the surprisingly wide variety of fast food and junk food available today.

Given that obesity is one of the most widespread diseases in the United States and taking into consideration the fact that obesity is also a risk factor for other ailments – such as heart failure or diabetes, researchers are continuously analyzing the many facets of this illness. Recently, scientists have been focusing on what makes a person overindulge, while fully aware of the consequences of their actions.

The most recent study analyzed the effect of food ingestion on dopamine. Dopamine is a substance released when something brings us pleasure and in this case the rise of dopamine was studied in relation to food consumption. The results were quite revealing – it appears that people who experience less dopamine release are more prone to gaining weight, while those whose brains release more dopamine after eating will most likely stay thin.

With this knowledge at hand, scientists are optimistic about curing obesity as an effect of overeating. The medicine that will help people who are likely to gain weight because of the dopamine release will function by adjusting the brain’s “reward” response.