That creeping belly fat that seems to appear out of nowhere in your 40s may not be your imagination\u2014or your fault. A new study published in Science<\/em> by researchers at the City of Hope Medical Center and UCLA has uncovered a biological reason for the expansion of waistlines during middle age. According to the findings, our bodies begin to produce a new type of fat cell precursor during this time of life, leading to a buildup of deep abdominal fat, regardless of diet or exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research team identified a previously unknown fat cell precursor they named CP-A, short for “committed preadipocyte, age-enriched.” These cells don\u2019t exist in young adults but begin to emerge in middle age. In experiments on mice, researchers found that by 12 months of age\u2014roughly the human equivalent of age 40\u2014more than 80 percent of the fat cells in visceral belly fat were newly formed, not merely enlarged from old ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D., one of the study\u2019s senior authors and an associate professor at the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope, explained, \u201cOur findings highlight the importance of controlling new fat-cell formation to address age-related obesity.\u201d The results overturn the previous belief that fat accumulation in aging was due to existing fat cells growing larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shift in fat biology begins in our 40s, a period when people often start to notice an expanding waistline. These CP-A cells appear most prominently in visceral fat\u2014the type that wraps around internal organs and is known to contribute to metabolic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human tissue samples confirmed the presence of these same CP-A cells in people. The number of these cells rose significantly in middle age before tapering off in later years. When transplanted into younger mice, CP-A cells retained their high fat-producing activity, proving the changes are inherent to the cells themselves, not just a response to hormonal or lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researchers discovered that CP-A cells are driven by a receptor called LIFR, short for leukemia inhibitory factor receptor. When this receptor was blocked using drugs, the mice did not develop the same increase in belly fat. This breakthrough points to LIFR as a potential target for drugs that could prevent or slow down middle-age weight gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study\u2019s lead team wrote, \u201cDespite the low turnover rate of adipocytes in young adults, adipogenesis is unlocked during middle age.\u201d This means the body starts generating fat cells rapidly in a way it hadn\u2019t before, explaining the difficulty in maintaining weight despite consistent healthy habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visceral fat is more than a cosmetic concern. It plays a major role in metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol levels, and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Studies have shown that high amounts of belly fat raise the risk of early death, even in people with normal overall body weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The accumulation of these fat cells also corresponds with other health changes. Middle-aged mice in the study not only gained fat but also showed signs of reduced energy use and insulin resistance\u2014issues that parallel human aging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While age-related belly fat might seem inevitable, this study offers a hopeful path forward. Blocking the LIFR receptor could become a way to reduce or prevent visceral fat accumulation in aging individuals. Although the research was conducted primarily in male mice, human samples have supported the findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Medical solutions that target CP-A cells or the LIFR pathway may one day help prevent metabolic disorders by stopping these fat cells from developing in the first place. However, further research is needed, especially to understand differences between men and women and to confirm how these findings apply in real-world human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wang emphasized the potential impact, stating, \u201cUnderstanding the role of CP-As in metabolic disorders and how these cells emerge during aging could lead to new medical solutions for reducing belly fat and improving health and longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This study sheds light on one of aging\u2019s most frustrating health challenges: stubborn belly fat. More importantly, it offers the first biological explanation for why our waistlines often expand as we age, even when we try to maintain a healthy lifestyle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Middle-Age Mystery Solved That creeping belly fat that seems to appear out of nowhere in your 40s may not be your imagination\u2014or your fault. A new study published in Science by researchers at the City of Hope Medical Center and UCLA has uncovered a biological reason for the expansion of waistlines during middle age. According to the findings, our bodies begin to produce a new type of fat cell precursor during this time of life, leading to a buildup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-aging","category-fitness","category-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6655,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653\/revisions\/6655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Discovery of CP-A Cells<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When Belly Fat Begins to Grow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Role of the LIFR Receptor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Health Risks Tied to Belly Fat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can Anything Be Done?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
HNZ Editor:<\/strong> Could this mean that at some point a new drug could be target to destroy just those cells? That would be earth-shattering news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n