Diabetes risk varies despite the same BMI
Two people with the same body mass index or BMI may have entirely different risks of developing type 2 diabetes, depending on the biological mechanisms underlying their overweight. In a new study, IGP researchers describe the molecular processes that drive these differences.
Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
According to previous studies there are at least two different types of overweight, where some types increase a person’s risk of diabetes, while others do not influence the risk at all, or even appear to be protective against the disease. The new study builds on this and shows that this variation is even greater than that.
“Previous research has shown that obesity is not a uniform condition. We show that there are several different biological mechanisms that lead to different risks of developing diabetes. We can also better map the molecular processes that drive these differences,” says Professor Åsa Johansson at IGP, who led the study.