© Pint of Science, 2024. All rights reserved.
Our bodies are super intelligent and the signals within them are extremely intricate, with the various body systems talking to each other all day, every day. On night 2 of Pint of Science, Professor Tricia Tan will tell us about recent discoveries of how our gut hormones send messages to the brain every time we eat and how we can harness this new understanding to treat burgeoning diseases obesity and diabetes. Professor Kate Hardy will give us an overview of the body signals that control reproduction and her exciting research into one of the most important organs of all, the ovary!
Signals to Slim Down
Dr Tricia Tan
(Consultant in metabolic medicine, endocrinology and diabetes)
Obesity is a big problem in the UK and in the world in general, causing diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks and cancer. Until recently there has been no good treatment for obesity apart from weight loss surgery, a step too far for many patients. But what if we could reduce weight and improve diabetes with an injection? By understanding how the bowels talk back to the brain when you eat, we are beginning to see how we can help patients with this debilitating disease.
All your eggs in one basket
Professor Kate Hardy
(Professor of Reproductive Biology, Imperial College London)
Women are born with a lifetime’s supply of eggs, which aren’t replenished after birth. As a result the number of eggs in their ovaries steadily declines with age, until they run out at the time of the menopause. In addition, as the woman gets older, her eggs get older. The implications of decreasing egg numbers and increasing egg age for the woman’s ability to become pregnant (and maintain a healthy pregnancy) will be explored.
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