It is conventionally assumed that if people are obese they are at risk of being pre-diabetic. However, sometimes people who are obese can still be healthy.

The markers through a blood sample test may help predict the risk of developing pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which is a group of conditions including elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance and high glucose level, the study noted.
"It is conventionally assumed that if people are obese they are at risk of being pre-diabetic. However, sometimes people who are obese can still be healthy. If people know they are specifically pre-diabetic they can have a more targeted way of treating it," Jia said.
The research team conducted a metabolomics study on four independent cohorts that involved a total of 452 participants.
The team performed a cross-sectional study with metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese participants, a longitudinal study to observe the occurrence of developing pre-diabetes over as long as 10 years, and two studies to evaluate the therapeutic effects on participants who underwent metabolic surgery or received very low carbohydrate diet for eight weeks.
The study was published online in the journal EbioMedicine.
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