The waning promise of leptin in the obesity fight

Who could have seen this coming? Fitness Watch readers, that's who.

When the so-called fat-controlling hormone leptin was first discovered, scientists predicted it would be the basis for a bonanza of new obesity-fighting drugs.

That was 15 years ago. Today, scientists are still trying to develop leptin-based weight-loss therapies, but progress has been slower than anticipated. That's because leptin appears to affect several biochemical pathways in the body, and scientists still can't agree on how, precisely, the hormone works.

Researchers do, however, know one thing about leptin: "It's way more complicated than we first thought," says Susan Fried, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.

If you want to lose the pounds, go here and stop wasting your life waiting for the "cure."