OF OGG AND PYY                                             Richard J B Willis

The OGG of the title is not to be confused with the formula for bribery expounded by Harold Birns (NY City Buildings Commissioner) in 1963, where OG = PLR x AEB (the opportunity for graft equals the plethora of legal requirements multiplied by the number of architects, engineers and builders!).  It refers instead to an Israeli discovery of immense importance.

Professor Zvi Livneh (of the Weizmann Institute of Science) must surely have been tempted to say, 'So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og …' (Deut 3:3) when his team found evidence of an enzyme OGG (8-oxoguanine DNA N-glycosylase), which helps cells to repair when damage occurs as a result of smoking.

Healthy people have higher amounts of the enzyme (7.1 on a measuring scale devised by the team compared with 5.8 in people with lung cancer).  A new blood test will be able to screen levels of OGG in the blood.  Smokers who have a low OGG value are 100 times more likely to develop lung cancer than other smokers having higher OGG values.  The finding may well account for the anecdotal heavy smoker who survives into old age without getting cancer, and the passive smoker who gets lung cancer through no fault of their own.

Lung cancer kills 94 people per day in the UK and remains the biggest killer.  Since most of these cases are diagnosed late, a screening programme may help to reduce the death rate considerably.

PYY refers to the hormone PYY3-36 produced by the endocrine cells in the gastrointestine and which signals the brain with the message that enough food has been eaten.  The hormone was found to be about a third lower in obese people.  A team of researchers from Imperial College London and the Hammersmith Hospital have studied the effects of PYY3-36 on obese and lean people.  It was concluded that the hormone reduced appetite and calorie consumption in both groups.  it is thought that by upping the amount of PYY, obese people will feel satiated earlier and so eat less.  The research showed that obese people given PYY reduced their calorie intake by about a third.  Blood fat levels were also reduced.

The discovery of OGG and PYY are tremendous steps forward in tackling two of the major problems of our day and have the potential to reduce many millions of deaths globally from lung cancer and the diseases associated with obesity.  However, neither of these breakthroughs are miracle cures.  Scientists involved with both areas of research point out that the discoveries are no substitute for necessary lifestyle changes: To protect against the hazards of smoking - stamp out tobacco in its many forms; to keep to ideal weight - take care with food choice and quantity, and do not neglect exercise.

If these discoveries are to have any real benefit we all have to play our part.  OGG and PYY are therapeutic adjuncts to healthy living, not the means to be healthy!