One-fourth (23%) of patients treated long-term with the antibiotic, doxycycline (100 mg twice a day), plus the antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine (600 mg daily), gained from 4 to 29 lbs after one-year according to a study from France.

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A couple recent studies suggested that gut bacteria might increase the risk of obesity. However a more recent study from the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, England found no evidence of this.

"Diets designed to achieve weight loss in obese subjects can significantly alter the species composition of the gut microbiota, but we find no evidence that the proportions of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes [two bacteria in the gut] among fecal bacteria have a function in human obesity," the researchers concluded. Read the entire article | Email this article

Obese people have more of a type of gut bacteria that extracts calories from food that makes them more prone to gaining weight according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Read the entire article | Email this article

Children who become overweight have a different amounts of a couple bacteria in their gut than children who remain normal weight according to a study from the University of Turku in Turku, Finland.

Those who become overweight have only roughly half as much of bifidobacterial, but have twice as much of a Staphylococcus aureus.

"Aberrant compositional development of the gut microbiota precedes overweight, offering new possibilities for preventive and therapeutic applications in weight management," the authors of the study concluded.

While this may sound crazy, other studies have also linked gut bacteria with the risk of obesity. Read the entire article | Email this article

Mice with a certain gut bacteria are more effective at releasing calories from food which increases body fat.

Transferring this bacteria to other mice increased body fat in those mice as well. Read the entire article | Email this article