|
The Obesity Gene
Obesity is
one of the main causes for many devastating ailments such as heart
disease, type-2 diabetes, gallbladder disease,
osteoarthritis and sleep apnea. Sometimes, obesity can even lower one's life
expectancy. Initially, it was believed that obesity was due to
conditions such as over-eating, a tremendous increase in the consumption
of foods high in fat as well as foods with a high caloric value, lack of proper
exercises, environmental factors, busy schedules, and other drastic
changes in one's lifestyle, but scientists have now discovered that obesity,
to some extent, is due to genetic factors. In other words, studies
reveal that one in eight people are genetically predisposed to obesity.
Imbalances in the obesity gene are considered one of the prime reasons for
the exploding increase in the rate of obesity. This gene controls not
only body weight as well as fertility, but also plays a pivotal role in
maintaining bone density.
It has been
identified that more than 200 genes as well as gene markers are
responsible for obesity. Among these perhaps the most prominent obesity
gene is leptin, which takes the role of a natural bone inhibitor by
conveying to the brain, that it needs to slow down the rate of bone formation. Leptin also
plays a major role in maintaining one's appetite as well as metabolism. It has
been found that in people who are overweight, the level of leptin in the blood is
quite high. A deficiency of this obesity gene may sometimes lead to
several diseases or conditions such as overeating, impaired thermoregulation,
a failure
to complete sexual maturation, immune dysfunction, and a host of neuroendocrine abnormalities: all of these leading to tremendous weight
gain. In addition, the obesity gene like INSIG2 (insulin-induced gene 2) may sometimes lead to excess
fat production, thereby causing obesity.
Another
prominent gene that is correlated with obesity is the FTO gene (Wikipedia:
FTO is a gene on Human chromosome 16 which appears to be
correlated with obesity in humans) which in
turn is of two varieties, sometimes known as alleles, including those
with one copy of high risk genes and two copies of high risk genes.
The majority of people possess one high risk gene and one low risk FTO gene.
There are also some people with both copies of high risk FTO genes.
People with two high-risk copies are more prone to being obese when
compared to those with one high risk copy. Studies show that people with
both flawed two copy genes are at a greater risk for
developing obesity. This in turn leads to a cluster of disorders such as
Prader-Willi syndrome and metabolic syndrome. Further, variances in the FTO
gene may affect one's body mass index (BMI), thereby leading to not only adult
obesity but also sometimes childhood obesity. Conditions such as type 2
diabetes and kidney disease, as well as the possibility of requiring
limb amputations, are also the result of the
variations in this type of obesity gene. Likewise, if left unchecked, it
may sometimes lead to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women, and
in men it forms one of the major causes in developing prostrate cancer.
From the
above discussion, it is evident that an imbalance in the obesity gene
forms one of the major reasons a person might become obese at some point
in their life. Studies even reveal that
the obesity gene is sometimes passed on to subsequent generations. In most
cases, genetic obesity is difficult to maintain. However, such methods
as obesity surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, have proven to be
beneficial in allowing a person to retain a healthier weight. Further, it
has also been proven that a balanced diet inclusive of nutritious fruits
and vegetables, as well as organic proteins, coupled with effective exercise plans helps people
suffering from such problems as an imbalance of insulin as well as blood
glucose, which in turn is one of the prime causes for obesity.
|
