A recent study finds that almost half of the U.S. population possesses a gene that processed fat differently, putting them at greater risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes is one of the most common diseases and is dreaded because it leads to many other complications. Genes are one among the many factors known to cause this disease.Edward Weiss, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Doisy College of Health Sciences at Saint Louis University, looked at a relatively common version of a gene called FABP2, which is involved in the absorption of fat from food.
Those people with the variant gene burned more fat, which may have hindered their ability to remove sugar from the blood stream and burn it. Diabetes is characterized by too much sugar in the blood.
"This study adds to what was previously known about this gene variant by showing that after consuming a very rich milkshake, people with the variant gene process the fat from the drink differently than other people," Weiss says.
That is not to say that half of U.S. residents are destined to get diabetes, he adds.
"While the variation of the gene appears to contribute to the diabetes risk, it does not cause diabetes by itself," Weiss says.
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Source-Eurekalert
PRI
