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Hormonal changes: are they useful in the classification of obesities?
Abstract:
Changes in hormonal levels and/or actions have frequently been implicated as either antecedent or concomitant factors in the etiology and progression of obesity. Therefore, various hormones are likely to be important in a classification schema for the obesities. Using selected hormones and experimental approaches as examples, this review emphasizes the complexity associated with the multiple measurable aspects of hormone levels and functions, and identifies some of the problems associated with simplistic or uni-dimensional assessments of hormonal factors in obesity. A framework is presented for the evaluation of each hormone for its possible contribution to a classification of the obesities.
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