The nine year old has a rare genetic defect and her body produces almost no leptin. She was so obese that doctors performed liposuction on her legs when she was six to help increase her ability to move around. The girl was constantly hungry and disruptive when she was not fed. The girl was started on a regimen of daily injections of leptin in 1997. Her appetite decreased within a week, and at the end of a year she had lost the 36 pounds, ninety-five percent of which was fat.
Researchers hope that their new findings have implications for the general population.
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