Genes tied to belly size linked to heart disease, diabetes
Staff Writer |
Gene variants that raise a person's odds of being "apple-shaped" may be linked to heightened risks of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, a large study suggests.
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Many previous studies have hinted that a large waistline can be particularly unhealthy, compared to carrying your weight around the hips and thighs (pear-shaped).
This new research suggests that people who carry weight at the belly tend to have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease.
These types of studies do not prove a cause-and-effect link, said Dr. Kirk Knowlton, director of cardiovascular research at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City.
But, the new findings "go a step further," said Knowlton, who was not involved in the study.
The new findings give "considerably more weight" to the evidence that excess belly fat, by itself, contributes to diabetes and heart disease, he said.
That's because study took a different approach to the question: Researchers looked at whether gene variants that predispose people to abdominal obesity were also tied to the risks of diabetes and heart disease - and whether that seemed to be independent of other factors, such as overall body weight.
That was, in fact, the case. The findings were published February 14 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. George Davey Smith, of the University of Bristol in England, wrote an editorial that accompanied the study.
"This study suggests waist-hip ratio influences diseases outcome," Smith said, "and that this is independent of body mass index."
The findings do not prove that shedding belly fat would cut a person's risk of diabetes or heart disease, Smith pointed out. But, he said, they do suggest it would. ■
Modified arctic air combined with a moisture-laden area of low pressure along the Gulf Coast will continue to allow for a broad area of winter weather impacts from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Southeast today into early Saturday morning.