It would appear that obesity can be reversed by cutting off the blood supply to the layers of fat in the body that are a health hazard. This doesn't mean wrapping a tourniquet around the throat but more applying a technique called "molecular liposuction."

But if you are overweight don't rush to your doctor just yet. Scientists at Houston University, Texas, who are investigating the technique's potential so far have only been successful on mice. So if you find any struggling to get through their hole in your skirting board there is at least one solution to their dilemma.

On a more serious note, the Houston team of medics has found that weeks of treatment with an experimental drug restored the normal weight of mice that had doubled their weight on a high fat diet.

In a report in the journal Natural Medicine, the university's researcher, Renata Pasqalini, explained: "If even a fraction of what we found in mice relates to human biology, then we are cautiously optimistic that there may be a new way to think about reversing obesity."

The medical technique involved is similar to one being tried as a cancer treatment based on the theory that if the blood supply to a tumour is cut off it will halt and dwindle.

Obesity is becoming one of the world's biggest health problems and while molecular liposuction may be a remedy, it's still down to us all to take more exercise and choose a diet richer in fruit and vegetables.

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Andrew Leech, Cross Reference Tel: 01753 884216