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.
Prentice et al. [17] predicted that the emerging molecular genetics field would ultimately provide a way to test between the adaptive 'thrifty gene' idea and the non-adaptive 'drifty gene' idea because it would be possible to find signatures of positive selection in the human genome, at genes that are linked to both obesity and type 2 diabetes ...
Obesity isn’t just a matter of food and exercise — it may be in your genetic code, according to new research. “Obesity’s causes are very complex and in the majority of cases, the ...
Monogenic obesity is excess weight caused by a mutation in a single gene, as opposed to syndromic obesity not tied to a single gene variation and most obesity, which is caused by multiple genetic and environmental risk factors. Monogenetic obesity mostly affects the hypothalamus and leptin–melanocortin system (see hypothalamic obesity ...
As such, obesity is a major feature of a number of rare genetic conditions that often present in childhood: Prader–Willi syndrome , with an incidence between 1 in 12,000 and 1 in 15,000 live births, is characterized by hyperphagia and food preoccupations which leads to rapid weight gain in those affected.
Fat mass and obesity-associated protein also known as alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase FTO is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FTO gene located on chromosome 16. As one homolog in the AlkB family proteins, it is the first messenger RNA (mRNA) demethylase that has been identified. [ 5 ]
The FTO gene encodes the fat mass and obesity-associated protein, and the SNP (or VUS) found in its intron was shown by genome-wide association studies to be associated with an increased risk for obesity and diabetes. The initial assumption was that this mutation was misregulating FTO to cause the disease risk.
Obesity is a major cause of disability and is correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. [2] [12] [13] Obesity has individual, socioeconomic, and environmental causes.