There is new medical information that has come from from a study done at Temple University and published in the latest issue of “Diabetes”. The study is interesting because the fat in obese patients is not as healthy as that in leaner individuals.
Adipose tissue samples taken from nondiabetic obese patients showed increased expression of proteins linked to endoplasmic reticulum stress, which may play a role in insulin resistance, Guenther Boden, M.D., of Temple University here, and colleagues reported in the September issue of Diabetes.
The bottom line of their finding is that there is something fundamentally different in the fat of obese persons and the fat of lean persons that may explain some of the pathology of obesity.
“The implication is that having too much fat is not just a cosmetic problem,” he continued. “That fat is unhealthy and dysfunctional, and you ought to do something about it because you’ll have consequences that affect other organs in your body.”
Although the association between obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation is well known, the causes are not completely understood, the researchers said.
Free fatty acids likely play a role, but not all obese, insulin-resistant patients have elevated levels, they said.
To find out whether endoplasmic reticulum stress exists in the fat of obese individuals, the researchers obtained fat samples from the upper thighs of six lean (mean age 36) and six obese (mean age 44) patients.
The researchers noted that “the results may not be representative of fat in other locations.”
Great article.
Love the site Bill.
Well organized and easy to read.
Keep up the great work!
–Corey