Realities of overweight and genetics

• April 25, 2024

The overweight It has become a social problem in recent decades. The reasons to be prone to obesity and its risk factors have been studied by recognized institutions, although there are still many questions despite extensive research in this regard.

A popular question is whether the overweight and the genetics they are related. This question has troubled several generations, but especially the current one. This is probably due to the increase in obesity and access to the information that we currently have.

As in everything, there are two aspects of the same history, on the one hand, the school of thought supports the idea that genetics influences the predisposition to overweight and, some people think otherwise.

Returning to the basic

If you have no idea what is the genetics , you should know that it is the study of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA ). It is the mark of each individual, which determines among other characteristics, the color of eyes, skin and hair.

The DNA It dictates practically what one will be, it also influences, as one suspects, whether a person will be obese or not.

What the followers of this theory say

Due to the development of technology, it has been deepened every time to find the special gene that is identified with obesity, without success to date, since most studies have found several genes that are related not to the overweight , but with the physical conditions that leads to it.

Most of these experiments use mice instead of humans. A group of researchers on injuries in San Antonio, Texas, discovered that by suppressing an important protein, they caused a short stature in the mice, that when they grew they became fat.

Another research team in Boston found that even a small change in the DNA , could predispose to obesity.

The gene called INSIG2 , has a vital role in producing fat and believe that an individual may be more prone to overweight, if their natural condition G is changed by a natural condition C. These are just two of the many studies that relate the obesity with the DNA , but it must be understood that most are still under study.

What to believe and what not to

On the one hand, those who do not accept that genetics is related to obesity, have good reasons for this. Some of them are that genes have been developed to protect man from hunger and not from the over abundance of food.

It has only been in the last 100 years, that the overweight It has become a problem. In fact, in the old era, being an obese person was a symbol of good position.

However, the way of life of man has changed drastically during this century due to sedentary lifestyle and way of life with computers, elevators, means of transport and others. It is believed that due to that, the metabolism has become slower and therefore, more prone to obesity , being more important the habits that genes .  

Video Medicine: Is obesity in our genes? Study strengthens genetic link to body size (April 2024).