Fat cells?

[sic75]

I read somewhere that people are born with a specific amount of fat cell. As it relates to gaining weight or loosing weight it is the individual fat cells that get bigger (Fatter) or get smaller (weight loss). Whatever the issue is, we will always have that same number of fat cells throughout out our lives. Unless of course one has liposuction then they would remove fat cells never to gain them again.

Can anyone say if this is true.

Thanks.

[marffeus]

As far as I know, this is correct. I think this is also why liposuction patients tend to look horrible if they gain weight again (craters and such).

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

For the most part, that is correct.

However, for unknown reasons, if a person gains a lot of weight, the fat cells begin to multiply -- and then each of those new cells begins to enlarge.  This is the case of persons who become morbidly obese.  Their entire lives begin to focus on eating food. It becomes a vicious cycle in which they continue to gain weight until they are hundreds of pounds overweight.

Unfortunately, despite lots of research, we still don't know what turns these cells on to multiply.

Dr Jacobs