Is this really the full story?
“Place the chocolate-iced custard-filled doughnut back on the second shelf and step away from the fridge,” whispers the voice in my head as I’m about to indulge in my guilty pleasure. My conscience overrides my taste buds and I restrain myself from consuming the fourth delicacy of the day – the one that would push me forward another 300 calories and eight grams of saturated fat.
It has long been thought that being overweight was simply a result of overeating. One consumes an excess of calories resulting in those pounds piling on – this being the sole explanation for an expanding waist line. Until now.
One group of scientists is adamant that our genetic make-up has a vital role to play. It is not only our actions that stimulate the onset of these consequences but in a large proportion of cases it could be down to our genes – the building blocks of life.
In the past little has been known about the influence of genetics behind illnesses coupled with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Professor Jaspal Kooner and his colleagues at Imperial College London found that half of the population contains a specific sequence of genes closely associated “with waist size, body mass index and insulin resistance, which is a pre-diabetic state.”
The uncovered sequence is positioned next to a gene, named MC4R, which is responsible for regulating energy levels in the body by influencing how much we eat and how much energy we expend or conserve. Kooner and his colleagues think that this sequence is responsible for controlling the MC4R gene.
Studies like this are key in finding new ways to tackle the world’s weight problem. The number of obese children is rapidly increasing, leading to the threat of a global obesity crisis. Here in the UK 1 in 10 six year-olds suffer from the disease, thereby increasing their susceptibility to major health problems.
“Using this research, you can do one of two things,” explained Professor Kooner. “You can identify the people that are at risk and work on prevention, or develop antagonists.” As the position of the gene sequence and its protein product are both known the challenge is to now “develop antagonists to protein products that may ultimately turn out to be drug targets.”
Interestingly, the gene sequence was found to be around 30% more common in the Indian Asian rather then European lineage. This could explain why there is a greater prevalence of obesity and insulin resistance in Indian Asians. The sub-group makes up around 25% of the world’s population but will account for 40% of global cardiovascular disease by 2020. Lead author Dr John Chambers stressed the importance of his research; “The number of people involved, the comparisons between two ancestries, and the detail with which we can explore genetic and environmental effects are helping us identify crucial linkages.”
Using a genetic approach to combat the disease is promising. Our genetic make-up can not be altered, however, we can focus on the development and application of preventative and innovative measures, for action needs to be taken. Action in the form of backing such studies, supporting research against a disease that is at present a burden to an estimated 300 million people worldwide, who might be glad to hear that over indulgence might not be the only thing to blame.
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Tags: Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Doughnut, Genes, Imperial College, Krispy Kreme, Obesity
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