Skin Patches Developed To Reduce Obesity By Burning Deposited Fat

Scientists have developed a new medical patch with microneedles that can burn off pockets of unwanted fat such as "love handles" and treat metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes.The patch turns energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat locally while raising the body's overall metabolism, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the University of North Carolina in the US. Humans have two types of fat. White fat stores excess energy in large triglyceride droplets.

Brown fat has smaller droplets and a high number of mitochondria that burn fat to produce heat. For years, researchers have been searching for therapies that can transform an adult's white fat into brown fat as a treatment for obesity and diabetes. "There are several clinically available drugs that promote browning, but all must be given as pills or injections," said…