There’s about to be a shake-up in the $55 billion weight loss industry – and it’s one that could make a big upside move in your portfolio…

I’m finishing this month’s Breakthrough Technology Alert issue right now. Nevertheless, there are big things happening, and I have to tell you about some of them. I’m also excited about the company I’m covering this month. It is a leader in search for the next generation of weight loss drugs and poised to take off, probably this year.

Weight loss is an area we’ve been looking at for a long time now. The economics are compelling. Obesity is a major risk factor in various diseases, from arthritis and cancer to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Any drug that can help people lose weight safely is, therefore, going to offer true value. Moreover, obesity increases with age. As the baby boom, the wealthiest generation in history, rolls into its senior years, the demand and the need for an obesity treatment is growing dramatically.

Until now, we haven’t chosen a company in this sector, for several reasons. One is simply that the field is crowded. There were a lot of companies and technologies to vet. Many people are working on fat drugs. Normally, this might have kept me out of the sector, but there’s room in this market for more than one winner. Buyers of these products often use them in combination.

Another reason we were particularly careful is that we’re going to see brand-new strategies for weight control in coming years. These new approaches, which I expect from several new sciences, including RNA interference, will probably leapfrog anything that comes out in the next year or so. Nevertheless, the demand is so great and the FDA is so resistant to new technologies, I expect some serious profits from innovators over the next five years. More importantly, this company has the potential and platform to evolve into a major biotech success story with many other targeted therapies.

Speaking of health and weight, I hope you’ve studied the new research regarding vitamin D I’ve told you about (for a refresher check the middle section of this article). Your health, after all, is your biggest asset. The newly discovered importance of optimal serum D levels should be seen as an opportunity to garner significant yields in health at very low costs.

Personally, since I’ve gotten my serum D levels up, I’ve noticed a number of obvious changes and benefits. One of the most welcome is that long-standing rotator cuff problems in my shoulders have nearly disappeared. I didn’t expect those results, but I’ve been able to increase the intensity of my workouts. For the first time in years, I’m adding pounds and reps to my weight training routine.

(You don’t need to do Navy SEAL levels of exercise to get real benefits, by the way. The benefits of exercise kick in quickly at relatively low levels. Just 20 minutes of walking or time on a treadmill or climber three times a week produces remarkable benefits, as I’m sure you know.)

Among the benefits that would interest investors are increased mental acuity. It seems like a new article on this subject appears practically every week, but a recent New York Times article is relatively comprehensive. I find this line extremely interesting: “Exercise causes the release of growth factors, proteins that increase the number of connections between neurons, and the birth of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory.”

Of even more importance both to your portfolio and to your health is a recent article published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation. It is titled “Physical Exercise Prevents Cellular Senescence in Circulating Leukocytes and in the Vessel Wall.” According to this research, the increased health and life spans associated with exercise come from the increased production of telomerase.

Telomerase, as you may know, is the enzyme that triggers regeneration of telomeres. Telomeres are the end caps that protect the double strands of DNA. As we age, our cells reproduce. Each time a cell’s DNA splits and reproduces, a telomere is used up. When the supply of telomeres is exhausted, the cell’s “Hayflick limit” is reached and it dies.

Even before cell death, however, cell function begins to suffer. We get “old.” In the journal article, German scientists show that exercise provokes telomerase production. Telomerase, the “immortalizing” enzyme, protects and restores telomeres. This, in turn, increases health and lengthens life spans.

The financial importance of the study is that it emphasizes the power of telomeres and telomerase. This is what regenerative medicine is all about. Stem cells have full youthful telomeres. When those cells are adopted by a patient, that patient’s new cells are functionally youthful, with full human life spans ahead of them.

Another exciting possibility is either to provoke telomerase production or actually introduce telomerase into our cells. This would restore our telomeres to youthful levels. I’m talking to world-renowned scientists now, each working on a different means of accomplishing this goal. There’s no way to know who’s going to solve the problem first. I have no doubt, however, that it will be solved.

In the meantime, practical steps like an exercise regimen and vitamin D supplementation are a good option. And on the investing front, I’m excited about the potential my new weight loss play has to offer. To learn more, visit the Breakthrough Technology Alert website…

For transformational profits,
Patrick Cox
The Penny Sleuth

February 26, 2010

Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox has lived deep inside the world of transformative technologies for over 25 years. In the 1980s, he worked in computer software development and manufacturing. By the mid-1990s, he worked as a consultant for Netscape — the company that handled 90% of all Internet browsing traffic at the time. InfoWorld and USA Today have featured Patrick's research numerous times. He's also appeared on Crossfire and Nightline. Patrick has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal and Reason magazine. His expertise brought him to Agora Financial, where he now heads Breakthrough Technology Alert, the only place you'll find the truly transformational technologies that offer exponential gains.

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