Clear gene link to obesity found

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I thought some of you might find this interesting.

Clear gene link to obesity found

Scientists say they have identified the clearest

genetic link to obesity yet.

They found people with two copies of a " fat " version

of a gene had a 70% higher risk of obesity than those

with none, and weighed 3kg (6.5lb) more.

The work in Science by the Peninsula Medical School

and Oxford University studied data from about 40,000

people.

The findings suggest that although improving lifestyle

is key to reducing obesity, some people may find it

harder to lose weight because of their genes.

The typical message has been that if you are

overweight it is due to sloth and gluttony and it is

your fault

Professor Chatterley

The authors say their work, funded by the Wellcome

Trust, could improve understanding of obesity and

eventually help prevent it, as well as an illness it

is linked to.

Genome differences

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of type

two diabetes, and the investigators first identified

the FTO gene when looking for differences between the

genomes of people with type two diabetes and people

without diabetes.

People with type two diabetes were more likely to have

a particular variant of the FTO gene, which was also

shown to be linked to increased body weight.

The variant making people fatter differed from the

other version of the FTO gene by a single mutation in

the DNA sequence.

Collyer (pictured left) has no copies of the

variant of FTO, while Endicott (pictured

right) has two copies I've always got a fridge full of

chocolate or cakes and people ask how I can eat all

that and still stay slim

Collyer

I've never been able to get off that last bit of

weight, I've always been a bit heavier no matter what

I eat

Endicott Both took part in the study

The team then looked at other studies involving 40,000

people searching for this FTO mutation, and confirmed

that it was associated with body weight.

People carrying one copy of the " fat " FTO variant had

a 30% increased risk of being obese compared to a

person with no copies of that version.

Those carrying two copies of the variant had a 70%

increased risk of being obese, and were on average 3kg

(6.6lb) heavier than a similar person with no copies.

Professor Hattersley of the Peninsula Medical

School said this could explain why two people can seem

to eat the same things and do the same amount of

exercise yet one may struggle to lose weight more than

the other.

He said: " The typical message has been that if you are

overweight it is due to sloth and gluttony and it is

your fault.

" This work is suggesting that there is also a genetic

component. "

And he said although a 3kg difference in weight sounds

relatively small, it is enough to make a big change in

the risks of obesity.

Improving treatment

Dr Sadaf Farooqi of the Department of Clinical

Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge said:

" This study is important because it has yielded

evidence for the first obesity susceptibility gene.

" Understanding the genetic susceptibility to weight

gain will make an important contribution to the

prevention and treatment of obesity. "

The team does not yet know exactly what the FTO gene

does or how the different variants work to influence

body weight.

But they hope further research to understand the gene

may lead to the unravelling of the basic biology of

obesity.

Dr Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, said

this could have very helpful consequences for public

health as about one in six white Europeans carried two

copies of the variant.

Obesity is one of the most challenging problems for

public health in the UK, " he said.

" The discovery of a gene that influences the

development of obesity in the general population

provides a new tool for understanding how some people

appear to gain weight more easily than others. "

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/6547891.stm

Published: 2007/04/12 18:10:57 GMT

© BBC MMVII

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time

with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news