05/12/2011 GMT
Vivienne Parry explores the crucial role the hormone leptin plays in the body.
Discovery · BBC World Service
December 5, 201117m 59s
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Show Notes
When leptin failed to be a wonder solution to obesity, this hormone produced by fat cells, disappeared from the headlines.
Twenty years on scientists now believe leptin is critical to how the body works, regulating appetite, the immune response, inflammation and depression.
Vivienne Parry investigates.