Common Gene can Explain the Tale of Obesity
A new British study observed, the first clear-cut evidence of a common gene that could explains why some people get fat and others stay lean.
Study of 38,000 people shows one-sixth of the population carries a 70 per cent higher risk of being obese as a result of variants in the so-called FTO gene.
Though the role played by the FTO gene in obesity, is not yet very much clear to the researchers, but the identification of this genetic link, would help to understand why some people are more obese, along with all the associated implications such as increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, says Mark McCarthy of Oxford University,one of the study leader.
About half the population carries one copy of the FTO variant, which leads on average to a weight gain of 1.2kg compared with those without the variant. People who carry two copies - one inherited from each parent - will gain 3kg.
Today’s online publication of the study by the journal Science is likely to trigger a large international research effort to understand what FTO does.
Independent scientists hailed the study as a landmark and also believe it will imprint an polsitive impact on the public health campain against ‘obisity epidemic’.
Susan Jebb, head of the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition unit in Cambridge, hopes People who know they are carriers will be more motivated to adopt a prudent diet and healthy lifestyle to decrease their risk.
Filed under Diabetes, Health, Heart, Obesity
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