Key points from article :
A new study affirmed the link between the presence of brown fat and improved cardiac or metabolic health.
Brown fat is much more metabolically active that allows the body to rapidly burn it off.
Investigating ways to turn white fat brown as treatment for obesity and other metabolic disorders.
"Brown fat is only detectable using PET scans," - Tobias Becher, first author of study.
"These scans are expensive, but more importantly, they use radiation," - Becher.
Brown fat was associated with a lower prevalence of several chronic diseases.
Subjects with brown fat were significantly less likely to have type 2 diabetes.
Also associated with lower levels of hypertension and coronary artery disease.
Obese individuals who retain brown fat activity appear to be protected against conditions linked to excess weight.
Proposed methods span from hormones that mimic exercise, nanoparticle injections, drugs and gene therapies like a "fat switch."
Research by The Rockefeller University published in the Journal Nature.
