Appetite-regulating Hormones In Focus As First Nobel Prizes Fall

Appetite-suppressing hormones have been made famous recently with the release of blockbuster weight-loss drugs (Credit: AFP)

Research into hormones that regulate appetite is seen leading the race for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, to be awarded Monday -- the first in this year's Nobel season.

At a time when more than one billion people suffer from obesity, research into the hormone called "glucagon-like peptide 1" (GLP-1) could be given the nod for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year, experts said.