A new study published in Nature Medicine shows just an extra kilogram of visceral fat can raise a woman’s risk of type 2 diabetes by more than seven times, compared to men, whose risk goes up by two times. This visceral fat also associated with more heart attacks, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia.
Research on 325,000 people in the UK Biobank cohort revealed more than 200 distinct genes influencing visceral fat, many of which are tied to how much or little a person eats or exercises.
Findings in this study were based on a simple method of estimating an individual’s amount of deep belly fat, which can be replicated in most clinics, rather than relying on the more advanced and costly diagnostic imaging techniques.
Although the gender implications of the study are interesting, a great accomplishment of the study is simplifying measurements of visceral fat to make it easier to identify people at higher risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Read fully study results here.
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