Traditionally, doctors have linked fat around the waist to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. New research says that our waist size is only part of the equation though, and that some of the same genes that make us store belly fat may also protect us from the disease.
From 2017 to 2020, the incidence of obesity in the United States alone stood at almost 42% of the population, according to the CDC. During that same period the rate of severe diabetes went from 4.7% to 9.2%. Because of its prevalence, researchers have been hard at work trying to combat the condition – described as having a body mass index of 30 or greater – through a variety of means, including trying to decode contributing factors contained in our genes.
Some of this research has led to the understanding that there are some individuals who can be classified as having "metabolic healthy obesity." This understanding has now been furthered by a study conducted at the University of Virginia (UVA).
"There is a growing body of evidence for metabolically healthy obesity," says researcher Mete Civelek, at UVA's Center for Public Health Genomics. "In this condition, people who would normally be at risk for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes because they are obese are actually protected from adverse effects of their obesity."
Civelek and his team discovered that among the hundreds of genes contained in our bodies that can lead to abdominal obesity, five of them also protected against the development of type 2 diabetes. Individuals equipped with these genes would see the reverse of what conventional medical wisdom would indicate: they could have significant belly fat, but also have a markedly lower risk of developing diabetes.
Based on the findings, Civelek says that doctors should begin looking not only at waist and hip measurements as predictors of a condition known as metabolic syndrome – which not only ups the risk of diabetes, but heart attack and stroke as well – but their genetics, too.
The findings, of course, aren't meant to say that belly fat is OK, as it's still considered a serious risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Based on the findings, only a small percentage of people will have the right genetic code to reap corresponding benefits from fat around their midsections. But the study could open the door to finding genetic solutions that could help doctors combat the condition going forward, joining other efforts such as injectable fat-fighting hydrogels and nanoparticles, silica from purified sand, a synthetic peptide that acts on the body's endocannabinoid system, and more.
For his part, Civelek says he will continue to investigate the phenomenon of metabolically healthy obesity.
"We now need to expand our studies in more women and people from different genetic ancestries to identify even more genes that underlie the metabolically healthy obesity phenomenon," he said. "We plan to build on our findings to perform more experiments to potentially identify a therapeutic target."
The research has been published in the journal, eLife.
Source: UVA Health
