Hunger hormone gone awry?

From San Francisco, at a meeting of the Endocrine Society

People with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes constant hunger and severe obesity, have unusually high concentrations of a hormone called ghrelin, which has been linked to hunger pangs.

“These patients have higher ghrelin levels than recorded in any other humans,” says David E. Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle.