Which Organ is Responsible for the Pathogenesis of Obesity?

Obesity is associated with significant complications and healthcare costs, but our ability to treat obesity has been limited by our understanding of its pathogenesis. We surveyed diabetologists and obesity related health care professionals asking them which organ they believed to be responsible for the pathogenesis of obesity. Participants favoured a central nervous system (CNS) aetiology. The response echoes evidence from genome wide association studies identifying a link between obesity and CNS loci. Our most successful obesity therapies involve the manipulation of subcortical area of the brain involved in energy balance. Future success in the management of obesity will be determined by our ability to define the pathogenesis of the disease in individual cases, moving from a one-size-fits-all, to more focused interventions.