About one-third of Americans carry enough extra weight to threaten their health. Yet some people who choose healthy lifestyles still seem to struggle to keep the pounds off. And those with apple-shaped profiles are considered at special risk.
For example, extra fat around the waist is estimated to increase a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease.
In the case of diabetes and weight gain, a recent study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that some people may have the genetic cards stacked against them. Investigators from the Division of Biostatistics evaluated data from 512 sedentary family members. They found that people who have genes making them prone to accumulate a certain type of belly fat also are prone to develop resistance to the hormone insulin, which sets the stage for type II diabetes.
"We tried to find out if there's a common genetic factor that is shared among people who have a greater fat distribution at the abdomen and also have insulin resistance, and this appears to be the case," says Yuling Hong, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of biostatistics. Hong is lead author of a paper on the results in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
What's inside the apple matters
Why focus on one form of abdominal fat? All owners of an apple-shaped profile
aren't alike, it appears. Layers of fat that cushion the viscera, or internal
organs, in the abdomen may be more detrimental to health than outer layers of
belly fat.
"There is good evidence that this deeper, visceral fat is associated more with diabetes," says Dabeeru C. Rao, Ph.D., director of the Division of Biostatistics, professor of biostatistics and principal investigator for the study.
The researchers explored the link between diabetes and the thickness of this
inner fat layer in Caucasian families who already were participating in a larger
genetics study. As part of the Heritage Fa
'"/>
Contact: Barbra Rodriguez
rodrigub@medicine.wustl.edu
314-286-0122
Washington University in St. Louis
24-Feb-1999