Having a Big Belly Can be Associated with Developing Type 2 Diabetes

A gene called KLF14 is one of many genes associated with the risk of women developing type 2 diabetes.  This gene declares where women store fat in their bodies and is only expressed in those fat cells.  Some women with this gene have slimmer hips while others have wider hips (pear shaped).  Studies have shown that women with larger hips tend to have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.  Wider hips are the more ideal trait in a woman possessing this gene because of the way fat is distributed throughout her body, especially in her midsection.

Obesity is a key risk of type 2 diabetes but the way fat is distributed throughout one’s body also has a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.  People who carry weight around their waist are particularly at risk for diabetes and heart disease.  Studies done by international researchers give more insight as to how the KLF14 gene works.  It appears to regulate hundreds of other genes active in fat cells as well as change the structure and function of those fat cell genes.  These findings suggest that women with narrower hips are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes because the way belly fat is distributed around their midsection.  Belly fat would protrude more in a woman with narrower hips.  She would hold more fat in her belly area.  Many would think that diabetes is only associated with a defective pancreas and the cells with in it, but KLF14 is only expressed in fat cells of the body. 

It is very intriguing that the way fat is distributed on a woman is associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  Many of the people in my family are diabetic, especially the women.  Looking at it now, the traits I described above are what some of the diabetic women in my family possess; thin, slender hips, and a large mid-section.  Good diets and exercise regimens could prevent other women in my family from developing type 2 diabetes.

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