Winning a won game: caffeine panacea for obesity syndemic.

Over the past decades, chronic sleep reduction and a concurrent development of obesity have been recognized as a common problem in the industrialized world. Among its numerous untoward effects, there is a possibility that insomnia is also a major contributor to obesity. This attribution poses a problem for caffeine, an inexpensive, "natural" agent that is purported to improve a number of conditions and is often indicated in a long-term pharmacotherapy in the context of weight management.

Ingestion-controlling network: what's language got to do with it?

The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically worldwide, whereas the types of treatment and their efficacy have not substantially changed over the last two decades. Additionally, drugs used to control weight gain could occasionally create untoward effects in cardiovascular functions, as well as in behaviors, memory, sleep, and emotions because the molecular machinery responsible for ingestion control is interconnected with or shared by the above domains. How each group of drugs preserves the privacy of its message in the mutual network is not fully understood.

Managing the pandemic of obesity: siding with the fox or the hedgehog?

Obesity is a major public health problem of pandemic proportion. Despite its high prevalence and widespread distribution (consistent with a common underlying etiology), clinical psychologists and primary care physicians routinely approach the problem with individualized but often ineffective treatments like psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, or propose alterations to specific components of the 'toxic environment', cultural influences, and psychosocial factors purported to cause overeating. This paper presents an alternative perspective and proposes a potential framework for assisting health professionals in developing rational approaches to education about and preventive treatment of obesity based on the role of factors in early life that contribute to personality and behavior and which over time lead to obesity and its maintenance.

The 'Tyranny of choices' in the ingestion-controlling network.

Background: Currently used antiobesity remedies offer only a modest weight reduction, and have untoward effects that can complicate treatment efforts. Motivated by the needs of the pharmacotherapy of obesity, the study explored the role of neuropeptide Y, leptin, and corticotrophin-releasing hormone.

Method: The study used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis which is a tool for automated discovery and visualization of molecular interactions.

The paradox of caffeine-zolpidem interaction: a network analysis.

A widely prescribed and potent short-acting hypnotic, zolpidem has become the mainstay for the treatment of middle-of-the-night sleeplessness. It is expected to be antagonized by caffeine. Paradoxically, in some cases caffeine appears to slightly enhance zolpidem sedation.