Health & Medicine
Low Inflammation Helps Obese People Stay Metabolically Healthy: Study
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Aug 28, 2013 05:50 AM EDT
Some people are obese and yet they stay metabolically fit. A latest study explains this by linking low levels of inflammation to healthy metabolic status in those who are obese.
The new study conducted by University College Cork in Ireland states that reduced levels of inflammation may explain how a few obese people manage to stay metabolically healthy.
One of the serious and common health disorders is obesity, and more than one third U.S. adults suffer from this disorder. Obesity is a risk factor for a whole host of diseases. Increasing obesity rates have been linked to rise in cancers, heart disease and diabetes.
Some obese people do not suffer from certain factors that elevate the risk of metabolic disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. This phenomenon is termed as metabolically healthy obesity. The study reports suggest that nearly 35 percent of obese adults carry a metabolically healthy status.
"In our study, metabolically healthy people -- both obese and non-obese -- had lower levels of a range of inflammatory markers," the study's lead author, Catherine Phillips, BSc, PhD, of University College Cork,Ireland, said in a news release. "Regardless of their body mass index, people with favorable inflammatory profiles also tended to have healthy metabolic profiles."
The researchers analyzed information of more than 2,040 people of ages 50-60 who were a part of the Cork and Kerry Diabetes and Heart Disease Study that was conducted between 2010 and 2011.
The participants were asked to complete lifestyle questionnaires and physical and clinical assessments. They also underwent blood tests so their body mass index (BMI), metabolic profiles and inflammatory markers could be determined.
After analyzing the inflammatory markers, the researchers noticed that metabolically healthy people had low levels of white blood cells and acute phase response proteins, which multiply at the time of inflammation. The metabolically healthy people also had higher levels of hormone called adiponectin. This hormone has an anti-inflammatory effect. The inflammatory profile in obese as well as lean people remained metabolically healthy.
"From a public health standpoint, we need better methods for identifying which obese people face the greatest risk of diabetes and heart disease," Phillips said. "Inflammatory markers offer a potential strategy for pinpointing people who could benefit most from medical interventions."
The study findings will be published in the October issue of JCEM.
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First Posted: Aug 28, 2013 05:50 AM EDT
Some people are obese and yet they stay metabolically fit. A latest study explains this by linking low levels of inflammation to healthy metabolic status in those who are obese.
The new study conducted by University College Cork in Ireland states that reduced levels of inflammation may explain how a few obese people manage to stay metabolically healthy.
One of the serious and common health disorders is obesity, and more than one third U.S. adults suffer from this disorder. Obesity is a risk factor for a whole host of diseases. Increasing obesity rates have been linked to rise in cancers, heart disease and diabetes.
Some obese people do not suffer from certain factors that elevate the risk of metabolic disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. This phenomenon is termed as metabolically healthy obesity. The study reports suggest that nearly 35 percent of obese adults carry a metabolically healthy status.
"In our study, metabolically healthy people -- both obese and non-obese -- had lower levels of a range of inflammatory markers," the study's lead author, Catherine Phillips, BSc, PhD, of University College Cork,Ireland, said in a news release. "Regardless of their body mass index, people with favorable inflammatory profiles also tended to have healthy metabolic profiles."
The researchers analyzed information of more than 2,040 people of ages 50-60 who were a part of the Cork and Kerry Diabetes and Heart Disease Study that was conducted between 2010 and 2011.
The participants were asked to complete lifestyle questionnaires and physical and clinical assessments. They also underwent blood tests so their body mass index (BMI), metabolic profiles and inflammatory markers could be determined.
After analyzing the inflammatory markers, the researchers noticed that metabolically healthy people had low levels of white blood cells and acute phase response proteins, which multiply at the time of inflammation. The metabolically healthy people also had higher levels of hormone called adiponectin. This hormone has an anti-inflammatory effect. The inflammatory profile in obese as well as lean people remained metabolically healthy.
"From a public health standpoint, we need better methods for identifying which obese people face the greatest risk of diabetes and heart disease," Phillips said. "Inflammatory markers offer a potential strategy for pinpointing people who could benefit most from medical interventions."
The study findings will be published in the October issue of JCEM.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone