Obesity treatment may need to take into
account a patient's fat sensors if the findings of a new study are incorporated
into medical practice.
A group of researchers at Imperial College London believe that people with a
faulty GPR120 protein, which detects the lipid levels in the body, are more
likely to become obese after they compared the genes of more than 14,000
people.
The team found that one specific mutation of the protein can increase a
person's chance of becoming obese by up to 60 per cent.
Lead author of the study professor Philippe Froguel explained that being
overweight in isolation is not enough to give someone and increased chance of
disease as often adipose cells can be used to store the extra fat.
"Some people seem to be unable to do this and instead they deposit fat
around their internal organs, which is very unhealthy," he added.
Professor Froguel now hopes that new drugs can be developed to target the
faulty protein.
© Adfero Ltd
Obesity surgery news : 21 February 2012
