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A Novel Inherited Form of Diabetes and Obesity Discovered
Scientists at the Imperial College London have identified a genetic link to obesity and diabetes in an extremely obese woman and her family members.
Scientists at the Imperial College London have identified a genetic link to obesity and diabetes in an extremely obese woman and her family members. The results have led the scientists to believe that obesity can be inherited.
On sequencing the DNA of this woman and her family, researchers discovered that a homozygous deletion prevented her body from synthesizing the protein carboxypeptidase-E (CPE). CPE is important in the proper processing of a number of hormones and neurotransmitters that regulate appetite, insulin, and other hormones important in the reproductive system, and lack of expression resulted in the woman being obese, suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus, and intellectually challenged.
Professor Alex Blakemore, lead author on the study that was published in the journal PLOS One, said: "There are now an increasing number of single-gene causes of obesity and diabetes known. We don't know how many more have yet to be discovered, or what proportion of the severely obese people in our population have these diseases - it is not possible to tell just by looking."
Read more at EurekAlert!: http://bit.ly/1IsXRUT
Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach
May 9th 2024In the series debut episode of "Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity," Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.
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Study Highlights Significant Increases in Utilization, Spending on DMD Drugs in Medicaid
May 17th 2024The findings add to recent research on the growing utilization, expenditure, and prices of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) therapies in the current landscape, an area health care policy could potentially address.
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