Diabetes risk, body shapes can be influenced by genes, study reveals

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Ever heard of the saying, “you will end up looking like your mother when you grow older?” Well, it seems that there is more truth to this old wives’ tales as a new research discovered how genetic make-up can determine the body shape and diabetes risk of a woman.

Eureka Alert reports that according to the study done by the Genomics of Regulatory Variation Research Group at King’s College London in the United Kingdom, a certain gene called KLF14 can regulate several genes which in turn can affect the development of diabetes in women. Furthermore, it can also influence how fat is stored in cells.

Dr. Kerrin Small, the head and lead author of the study, explains that while these alleles or variations in genes do not affect the weight of women, it can determine what body shape they will end up having. Previous studies have identified women with “pear-shaped” body types are less likely to get diabetes as compared to those who have slimmer hips. Similarly, the findings of the research noted that women exhibiting one allele of genes have larger hips and are more protected against the risk of diabetes.

Medical Daily adds that the KLF14 affects the body shape by encoding a gene-regulating protein that affects the composition of fat tissues. This type of gene is inherited by women from their moms and the results are affected by how their moms pass the allele to them. Dr. Small believes that the discovery of the gene will help experts provide a more customized and personalized approach to disease diagnosis and treatment.

The team will then further investigate how the specific mechanisms of the gene variant work and try to find out why women are the only ones usually affected. Dr. Small plans to create and develop a model of how genes affect women and increase their risks in getting diabetes.

The study was presented last Saturday at the yearly meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Baltimore. The results are just preliminary but Dr. Caroline Apovian from the Obesity Society agrees that Dr. Small’s study can lead to potential diabetes treatment, Health Day writes.

Dr. Apovian believes that even though any genetic study is just an overview of the complexity of how a person can gain weight or get diabetes, learning about the genetic influences can certainly increase the chances of lowering occurrences of complications. Best of all, the study is able to help highlight the importance of fat cells to human health.