Actually, I wasn't all that keen to get married when I did--I had grown up in the Midwest where marriages seemed boring and both men and women seemed trapped. And it was in the mid-seventies when, in my circles, getting married wasn't really very cool. But my parents were throw-backs from the Middle Ages, and I knew that if I wanted to have any kind of a relationship with them, I would need to marry the man I was madly in love with and planned on living with. I remember when we did get married, everyone's expectations made me squirm. My husband and I were determined to define our marriage in our own terms and not let other people impose their conventions/preconceptions/biases on us. It wasn't always easy. In fact, the first seven years were hard, but we stayed in love and after year fifteen, something very cool happened and the relationship just got better and better. It's not that we "work" at it. That sounds very grim. But we do make our relationship a priority, not our careers, and always have. We didn't have children. Maybe that makes a difference; I don't know. We were pretty poor for a while because we lived on the road and traveled and did odd jobs and pursued our creative dreams. Now we're doing better financially mainly, I think, because we continued to gain professional skills that, after many years, can actually command some real money. But neither one of us was ever pressured by the other one to give up our dreams.

It's not that we don't still have rough patches and hard times. We do. But we've learned how to fight fair and we always forgive and we always can trust that the other one has our best interests at heart and wants us both to be happy. I love my husband in a different way than I did when we were young. Maybe it's not as sexual or passionate (though, it might be, just not defined in a bodice-ripping, mass media sort of way), but the depth of love and affection and admiration I feel for the good man that my husband is permeates every crevice of my psyche. I feel sad when I hear how many people have terrible experiences in marriage (or any long term relationship). I'm not sure that marriage would have been essential for us to have the relationship that we are now so fortunate to have, but having now spent 35 years with someone I not only am not tired of, I still can't get enough of, I don't have any complaints. Just the opposite.

Although, I do agree with Shanob that high fructose corn syrup is probably a big culprit, even worse that high fat foods. Fat contributes to the feeling of being full, whereas sugar doesn't. And I think sugar might be more addictive than fatty foods.

I guess I'm fortunate that my brain chemistry is in balance with my metabolism. I have never dieted. I eat whatever I want. I've never been overweight and am not now, in middle age. For some reason, there is something in my neurochemistry that always tells me, "That's enough," whether it's healthy or not so healthy. I tend not to eat many junk foods, but I do love a good burger (but I avoid chains) and I LOVE cheese, and I think whoever fingered all the chemicals in our foods is onto something, too. I think all those chemicals could be messing with our metabolism AND our neurochemistry (I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague). When I eat something like those flavored chips and my brain recognizes that deadly sugar/salt/fat combo, some warning signal goes off and says, "Danger! Danger! Don't eat too many of those!" I love French fries but I don't crave them, and I usually only eat one-third of an order--and not because of willpower. I just don't want any more. I snack all day long (and not just on fruits and vegetables), but for me, that means, I guess, my stomach stays small and my body is able to process all those calories then rather than store them. Getting enough protein in balance with carbs seems to help, at least for me.

Maybe scientists need to round up some eaters like me, whose signals seem to be intact, to study. I love food. I anticipate eating good food. I mentally savor past meals that were particularly scrumptious. But for me, that doesn't trigger having to eat any of that food then or later or any kind of overeating when I do eat whatever I might be enjoying mentally. I'm not bragging, I hope that's clear. I feel for those who have an addictive relationship to food (have many wonderful friends and loved ones with this issue). But I do think there must be a way to reprogram our minds/bodies into regaining a healthy relationship with food. And I agree that dieting is not the answer.

I haven't had a chance to read the comments, but this decision literally makes me ill.

Unfortunately, jingoists will use the information politically, but the reason the index case is tracked down is to figure out what the reservoir and/or vector for the disease is - in order to shut down whatever constitutes the primary generator of the disease. Knowing that fleas transmit Bubonic Plague from rats, for example, helps us to avoid getting and spreading that disease. By going back to the beginning conditions for the emergence, investigators can start to piece together the "story." In addition, sometimes, by finding the true host or reservoir, an antidote can be developed. A"true" host often carries the disease but doesn't display symptoms; so that would be the aim here, to not get sick when presented with the pathogen. The more we know about the epidemiology, the better we can treat the illness.