Are
you overweight? Don't just blame fast food, it's in your DNA!
It’s not just what you eat that
makes those pants tighter — it’s also genetics, researchers have claimed. In a
new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food
diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified
several genes they say may control those responses.
The study is the first of its kind
to detail metabolic responses to a high-fat, high-sugar diet in a large and
diverse mouse population under defined environmental conditions, modeling
closely what is likely to occur in human populations. The researchers found
that the amount of food consumed contributed only modestly to the degree of
obesity.
“Our research demonstrates that
body-fat responses to high-fat, high-sugar diets have a very strong genetic
component, and we have identified several genetic factors potentially
regulating these responses,” first author Dr Brian Parks, a postdoctoral
researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said.
“We found that obesity has similar
genetic signatures in mice and humans, indicating the mice are a highly
relevant model system to study obesity. Overall, our work has broad
implications concerning the genetic nature of obesity and weight gain,” he
said. The dramatic increase in obesity over the past few decades has been
tightly associated with an increase in obesity-related conditions such as type 2
diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
And while high-calorie diets
containing high levels of fat and sugar, along with sedentary lifestyles, have
been considered the most significant environmental factors contributing to this
epidemic, the new UCLA research demonstrates that body-fat responses to food
are strongly inherited and linked to our DNA.
The researchers note that
overconsumption of high-calorie, high-sugar food is an important factor
contributing to the obesity epidemic, but stress that food consumption is only
one of many environmental factors that affect obesity.
The findings are published in the
online edition of the journal Cell Metabolism.
Source: www.dnaindia.com
23.01.2013
Aspirin may cause age-related blindness?
The risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a
leading cause of blindness in older people, may increase due to aspirin, a drug
for prevention of cardiovascular disease, says an Australian study.
Aspirin is one of the world’s most popular drugs for
prevention of cardiovascular disease like myocardial infarction (heart attack)
and ischemic stroke (poor blood supply to heart). While a recent study
suggested that regular aspirin use was linked with AMD, particularly the more
visually devastating neovascular (wet) form, other studies have reported
inconsistent findings. Smoking is also a preventable risk factor for AMD,
according to the study authors, the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, reports.
Gerald Liew, from the University of Sydney and colleagues
examined whether regular aspirin use (once or more per week) was tied to a
higher risk of AMD by conducting a prospective analysis of data from a study
that included four examinations during a 15-year period. Of 2,389 participants,
257 individuals (10.8 percent) were regular aspirin users. After the 15-year
follow-up, 63 individuals (24.5 percent) developed incident neovascular AMD,
according to a Sydney statement.
‘The cumulative incidence of neovascular AMD among
non-regular aspirin users was 0.8 percent at five years, 1.6 percent at 10
years and 3.7 percent at 15 years; among regular aspirin users, the cumulative
incidence was 1.9 percent at five years, 7 percent at 10 years and 9.3 percent
at 15 years, respectively,’ the authors note.
Source: http://health.india.com
23.01.2013
Things work out best for those who make the best of how
things work out
John Wooden
No comments:
Post a Comment