Firm designs nasal spray to fight obesity

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Dieters may find some welcome assistance from a new nasal spray that could help resist the appetizing aromas of cinnamon bun stands, pizza parlors or tempting bakeries. Compellis Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Massachusetts will begin human trials next year for the spray that blocks both sense of smell and taste--they say if those are blocked, the eating will slow. "The pleasurable effect of eating is all stimulated by smell and taste," Christopher Adams, the company's founder and chief executive, told Reuters on Tuesday. "The premise is that olfactory activity that controls both smell and taste is a trigger and a feedback mechanism to eat. If you have some kind of reduced sense of smell or taste, you tend to eat less," he said. This latest spray is just another product in a field that brings in over $100 billion per year. Diet pills, exercise tapes, doctor's visits, diabetes treatment, heart disease..all fall in line with this business. I hope this works because the obesity problem is outrageous in the US...it is estimated that 65% of American adults are overweight or obese.