Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Like many other medical conditions, obesity is the result of an interplay between environmental and genetic factors. [2] [3] Studies have identified variants in several genes that may contribute to weight gain and body fat distribution; although, only in a few cases are genes the primary cause of obesity. [4] [5]
Familial multiple lipomatosis is a hereditary adipose tissue disorder that is characterized by the formation of multiple lipomas that occur in a particular distribution. [1] The lipomas are well-encapsulated, slow-growing, benign fatty tumors. The distribution is defined as being focused in the trunk of the body and extremities. [2]
Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy is a rare genetic condition characterized by reduced body fat and increased skeletal muscle size. [1] Affected individuals have up to twice the usual amount of muscle mass in their bodies, but increases in muscle strength are not usually congruent. [2]
Linear growth is a complex process regulated by the growth hormone (GH) – insulin-like growth factor-1 axis, the thyroxine/triiodothyronine axis, androgens, estrogens, vitamin D, glucocorticoids and possibly leptin. [25] GH is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland in response to hypothalamic, pituitary and circulating factors.
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents.
Not all genetic disorders directly result in death; however, there are no known cures for genetic disorders. Many genetic disorders affect stages of development, such as Down syndrome, while others result in purely physical symptoms such as muscular dystrophy. Other disorders, such as Huntington's disease, show no signs until adulthood.
The changes that constitute acquired characteristics can have many manifestations and degrees of visibility, but they all have one thing in common. They change a facet of a living organism's function or structure after birth. For example: The muscles acquired by a bodybuilder through physical training and diet. The loss of a limb due to an injury.
In medicine, genetic susceptibility to a disease refers to a genetic predisposition to a health problem, [1] which may eventually be triggered by particular environmental or lifestyle factors, such as tobacco smoking or diet. Genetic testing is able to identify individuals who are genetically predisposed to certain diseases.