An international team of scientists has discovered thegenetic basis of obesityafter identifying18 new genes associated with obesity in general-and the Body Mass Index (BMI) – and13 linked to fat distribution– waist-hip radius (RCC) -. The studies, published inNature Genetics, is based on data from more than 200,000 participants, making it the largest genetic research of a human trait carried out to date.
“Our ultimate goal isexplain why each person has a different susceptibility to obesity“says Joel Hirschhorn, from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, integrated into the GIANT consortium that involves more than 400 scientists from 280 institutions around the world.
Where fat is stored is not a trivial matter. People who tend toaccumulate fat in the abdominal area(“apple-like” obesity) have a higher risk of suffering fromcardiovascular problems and diabetesthan those that accumulate adipose tissue in the hips (“pear-like” obesity). In fact,the hated “love handles” are a good indicator to measure the risk of suffering a heart attack. Knowing the areas of the genome that determine whether fat is deposited on the waist or hips, and understanding why there are clear differences in this regard between men and women, is of great biological and medical interest, according to study co-author Cecilia Lindgren , from the University of Oxford, which points out that 7of the 13 new genes discovered in relation to the waist-hip ratio (WHR) have a greater effect in women.
Obesity is a disease that has become the second leading cause of preventable death, after tobacco, in rich countries.
