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Posted on August 20, 2007 in Latest News
Research studies have found that obese people are up to 80 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who maintain a healthy weight. Although weight is not always a contributory factor in Type 2 diabetes, the findings suggest that the risk of developing diabetes increases progressively as an individual’s Body Mass Index (BMI) increases.
If your BMI is over 30 you’re already up to 10 times more likely to get diabetes. Over a ten-year period, those with a BMI of over 35 are up to 80 times more likely to develop the condition than someone with a BMI of less than 22. With these figures you can understand the shocking extent to which obesity increases the risk of diabetes.
Research studies establish a biochemical connection between obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes occurs when one’s body either doesn’t make enough insulin or becomes resistant to insulin, thus preventing it from storing sugar and increasing the body’s sugar levels beyond normal and healthy levels.
Hormone MSH, a Cause
In a recent study, tests conduced in mice found that diabetes in obese mice requires a hormone known as MSH, which is made by the POMC gene that is found in both mice and humans. It is found that obese mice without the MSH hormone were obese but did not develop diabetes. Administration of the MSH hormone to these mice caused increased resistance to insulin and affected blood sugar levels. It shows that MSH may be a factor in the development of Type 2 Diabetes.
Findings also showed that obese people with high levels of the hormone MSH are more likely to be diabetic than obese people with low levels of the MSH hormone. Now scientists are studying preventive treatments, such as testing the MSH hormone levels in obese individuals and then administering a medication if the levels are too high.
Obesity Related Diabetes in Children
The incidence of diabetes linked to obesity has increased significantly in U.S. children in the past few decades. Obesity in children turned out as a major health problem, and also there is a sharp rise in the type of diabetes that is normally found only in adults. Studies show that 70 percent of overweight kids aged 10 to 13 years will be overweight and obese as adults. Obesity also puts overweight children at risk of other diseases. Overweight children tend to have readings in the highest levels of the normal ranges for their blood sugar, blood pressure and blood fats. Each of these factors places them at increased risk of health problems.
Leptin Plays a Key Role
Generally popular belief is that if one eats too much sugar, they’ll get fat and develop diabetes. If they don’t get diabetes it’s merely because their body is producing enough insulin to keep up with the sugar. However, researchers found that there’s more to the obesity-diabetes connection than this classic way of thinking. That is, leptin.
Research studies suggested that leptin is the key, as it is responsible for controlling appetite and fat storage and telling the liver what to do with its stored glucose. While it was previously found that disrupting the appetite-controlling passageway leads to obesity, research results indicated that it likely takes disruptions in both of leptin’s passageways to trigger full-blown diabetes.
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