Swedish News:

New fat cell cure for obesity. Swedish soprano best in the world. Social Democrats suggest summer school. 

  • Swedish scientists have discovered a new kind of fat cell, which may be used in the fight against obesity and type 2 diabetes, an obesity-related disease. “La monstrua desnuda” painting by Juan Carreno de Miranda.

  • New fat cell cure for obesity
    Swedish scientists have found a new type of fat cell in humans that is extra effective in turning fat into heat. This opens the door to new treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The discovery has to do with the body’s brown fat cells, which unlike the white fat cells can burn energy and turn it into heat. It was previously thought that humans had only one type of brown fat cells, but the Swedish research team has discovered yet another, called “beige adipose tissue.” “With the results we’ve had, we should in the long run be able to develop methods to stimulate the brown adipose tissue, so that some of the excess energy we have as adipose tissue can be transformed into heat,” says Sven Enerbäck, who has led the study conducted at the Sahlgrenska Academy in collaboration with Linköping University. Though such a treatment lies far in the future, it could eventually prevent obesity as well as lessen the risk of developing obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. “We already know today that those of us who have more beige adipose tissue have less of a risk in developing type 2 diabetes,” says Enerbäck in a press release. The findings were published in Nature Medicine.

  • Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, born in Stockholm in 1963, has been awarded the prize of best female opera singer at the International Opera Awards in London. Photo: Tanja Niemann

  • Social Democrats suggest summer school
    In their spring budget motion, the Social Democrats suggest mandatory summer school (lasting up to 20 days) for 9th grade students who fail to qualify for senior high school. This according to Magdalena Andersson, the party’s economic spokesperson. The Social Democrats also propose a possibility for a summer senior high school for those students who have yet to fulfill the demands for examination. These proposals are estimated to cost 90 million SEK ($13,619,462). The party also wants to allocate 100 million SEK ($15,061,102) to those municipalities that are most ambitious in offering summer jobs for young people.