Bardet-Biedl Syndrome

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare genetic disorder that 9 out of 10 times causes obesity. It is rare because it is autosomal recessive, so both parents have to carry the recessive gene for a 25% chance their child could have BBS. More than 20 genes have been found to be associated with BBS. Only about 2500 people in the United States have BBS. A parent of a child with BBS explained how their child would eat so much, and sneak food so often that they had to put locks on their cabinets and fridge to keep their child out. It is a struggle because hunger is sometimes all that victims can think about, but the urge never goes away. Common symptoms across those with BBS include obesity (typically by age 5), hyperphagia, visual impairments, postaxial polydactyly, renal anomalies, diabetes, cognitive impairments, and more. The pathway that regulates hunger, satiety, and energy spent is the MC4R pathway. The pathway is activated by leptin, a neuro-signaling hormone from the adipose tissue. BBS genes help guide leptin to the POMC neurons, and without it, hunger, satiety, and energy cannot be controlled. Diet and exercise are not usually enough to treat BBS. IMCIVREE is a prescription medicine for people ages 6 years and older with obesity due to BBS. It helps them lose weight and keep weight off. Side effects of IMCIVREE include male and female sexual function problems. depression and suicidal thoughts, darkening moles, and benzyl alcohol toxicity.

How are childhood trauma and genetics linked to risk of being obese?

New research has found associations between genetics, obesity, and childhood trauma, linking social health determinants, genetics, and disease. The new study focuses on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which are traumatic and unsafe events that children endure by the age of 18. 

    According to the research findings of the 16,000 participants, those who had experienced one or more types of ACE were more likely to become obese adults. Those who experienced four or more ACEs were more than twice as likely to become severely obese. There was a steady increase in BMI for each ACE a person experienced, which indicates a strong relation between obesity and ACE. 

    Combination of genetics, environmental factors such as poverty and abuse, food insecurity, and poor relationships with parental guardians can increase this risk. Obesity can increase the chance for multiple health problems such as cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. Losing weight can help to decrease the chances of being affected by these health issues. 

Related article

Bad food and choices, not genes

           A large number of people believe that obesity is genetic. However, this is proven to be false. Obesity is a worldwide problem in America. Believing that obesity is generic kills hopes for those who were motivated to lose weight- this is why it is to important to let America know the truth. Research on human obesity genes started several decades ago. Advances in biology and the Human Genome has helped this research. This research has illuminated many genetic factors responsible for obesity.  
             Genetic changes does not explain obesity because the gene pool has remained stable for many generations. It takes a very long time for a new mutation to spread. Therefore, since or genes have not changed for years, the other thing that has changed is our environment and habits. The environment has influenced what to eat, how much and how active we are. Back then, people were much more active using walking or bicycles as transportation compared to this generation. In our current generation, no barely ever anyone using active transportation- almost every person owns a car.  Other environmental changes that promotes obesity is how easy it is to overeat, for example- fast food places or drive through. 
            Research and studies have shown that genetic susceptibility to obesity can be changed by life choices such as exercising. We can control how much we eat or exercise. Regardless of how obese your parents are, the child can prevent obesity by a healthy diet and exercise. Americans should not point the finger at thier genes but rather blame self-control.


Article: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/825410
2nd Article: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/genes-and-obesity/

Kids' genetic risk for obesity increases with age

Researchers at University College London have been studying genes and their role in childhood obesity. Their study  involved looking at different genetic variants in pairs of twins, ages four and ten. Body-mass index was also studied for kids of both ages. According to their research, the genetic variants rose over the years, growing from 43% in children of age 4 to 82% in children of age 10. These results show that "genetic predisposition to obesity is increasingly expressed throughout childhood," co-leader Clare Llewellyn states.This study brings hope that childhood obesity may be able to be reduced if intervention occurs at a young enough age. The link below lists some tips for overweight children, that will help with their weight-loss goals.
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/raising-fit-kids/move/kids-exercise-tips

Study of UK Children Finds Low Vitamin D Linked to Fatty Liver Disease

A UK study investigating a relationship between low vitamin D and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in British children has identified a genetic variant associated with the disease's severity. The research is being done by King's College Hospital Pediatric Liver Centre and the University of Surrey's School of Biosciences and Medicine has analyzed the medical records of 120 pediatric patients with NAFLD. The number of NAFLD cases are increasing because kids are choosing to play indoors rather than outside. Jean-Francois Dufour, a professor at the University Clinic for Visceral Surgery and Medicine, says, "Identifying a gene that impacts or alters the disease is a step in the right direction and could potentially lead to the development of new treatments or diagnostic techniques to address this growing issue." NAFLD is rapidly becoming the most common liver disease worldwide. It is estimated to effect 10% of Europe's pediatric population and around 20%-30% in the entire European population. Vitamin D was low all year round in the patients, not just in the winter. The study also found a variant of the NADSYN1 gene which is associated with NAFLD severity in patients.
I found this study to be very interesting. Before reading this article, I never heard of NAFLD. The fact that it is increasing in the pediatric population is terrible. It is definitely because children nowadays rather play video games instead of sports or anything else outside. It is incredible how much technology has helped and hurt humans.

Teenage Obesity

Obesity means having too much body fat. This is different from being overweight, which means weighing too much. Normally obesity is focused more on young children and adults. This article, published in the New York Daily News by Katie Charles, discusses the issue of the high risk of obesity in adolescents. Dr. Christopher Ochner, a clinical researcher said “The rate of obesity in adolescents in the past 30 years has risen faster than in children and nearly three times as fast as in adults.” Studies show that 70% of obese teens become obese adults. This shows the importance of why obesity should be approached during the teenage years. Both boys and girls can be at risk of becoming obese. Once a person becomes obese it is harder to lose the weight because the person’s body will get used to the weight. There are currently few resources for overweight teens. Dr. Ochner is working on a program at his center on preventing obesity.

In my opinion, preventing obesity while it can still be prevented is the best approach. Focusing more on obese teens will help prevent further problems for their adulthood. For example, this will reduce the amount of obese-related diseases in a person like type 2-diabetes. It will create a healthier living habit. 

Gene Mutation Linked to Increased Risk of Obesity in Children

            Obesity has been a major health issue for many years, particularly for citizens of the United States of America.  A serious problem is that obesity has been steadily increasing in children.  It has been thought that bad eating habits and less time spent on physical activity cause obesity.  However, a study conducted by researchers in Britain has discovered a genetic cause and higher risk of obesity in children.  They found that mutations in the KSR2 gene result in larger appetites and slower metabolism than children with normal copies of the KSR2 gene.  Metabolism is essentially how well the body burns calories.  Children are consuming lots of calories and aren’t burning as much off.  As a result, this leads to obesity.  The researchers came to this conclusion after completing genetic analyses on more than 2,100 extremely obese children.  Sadaf Farooqi, the author of the study, says that “changes in diet and levels of physical activity underlie the recent increase in obesity; however, some people gain weight more easily than others.”  He goes on further to say that genetic factors are the reason some gain weight more easily than others and the mutations in the KSR2 gene explains this.  Previously, Farooqi and his fellow researchers discovered that the deletion of the KSR2 gene causes obesity in mice and this demonstrated how the gene affects energy balance and metabolism.  With this information, it was determined that the KSR2 gene functions the same way in humans.  From this research study, Farooqi hopes to be able to find a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

            This research study is extremely informative and important.  America is one of the most obese countries in the world and now there is a reason why.  I am not saying that all obese children in the United States have this mutation of the KSR2 gene, but there are some that definitely do.  Those that don't have the mutation need to exercise more and make healthier eating choices.  This finding provides an answer to those children with the KSR2 mutation who try to lose weight through exercise and healthy dieting, but can’t.  One question that I thought of while reading this article is does the KSR2 cause obesity in adults or is there another genetic factor responsible?  Anyway now that there is a genetic factor that has been identified to increase the risk of obesity, that doesn’t mean children should stop exercising and eating healthy.  It is even more important now for those children who have the KSR2 gene mutation to continue to be involved in physical activity and have healthy diets.  These are the two current methods of combating childhood obesity.  Due the KSR2 gene mutation, hopefully one day there will be a treatment for those children that are obese and have type 2 diabetes.

Discovery of Genetic Variations That Are Linked to Obesity in Children

Science Daily published an article entitled “Finding Genes for Childhood Obesity: Genome Wide Study Identifies Genetic Variants Associated With Childhood Obesity” by Eleanor Wheeler, Ni Huang, Elena G. Bochukova, Julia M. Keogh, Sarah Lindsay, Sumedha Garg, Elana Henning, Hannah Blackburn, Ruth J. F Loos, Nick J. Wareham, Stephen O’Rahilly, Matthew E. Hurles, Ines Barroso, and Sadaf Farooqi. This article discusses the genetic analysis that has pinpointed genes that may be linked to severe obesity in children. In addition, the research revealed an elevated amount of structural variants in the DNA that erases G protein coupled receptors which maintain weight. Medication can be developed that focuses on these receptors in order to correct the problem.

I think this research is very significant because childhood obesity can have harmful effects on the body such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risks factors for cardiovascular disease.

Article Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130407133146.htm

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-global-center-on-childhood-obesity/research/

Genes could increase risk of childhood obesity

Obesity is a common topic in science now-a-days because of how high the obesity rate is.  Science Daily released that geneticists have identified two genes that can increase the risk to childhood obesity.In the past there were other genes as well that have been identified for this, but those are only for extreme cases. These genes are known to be linked to "common" childhood obesity.  There was a massive study which included 13,830 children. This was the largest study ever on common childhood obesity. The data allowed them to locate where the role of obesity may further come from. The OLFM4 gene on chromosome 13, and HOXB5 gene on chromosome 17 were never previously studied for this problem. In the future this may allow for treatments and preventatives to be designed based on children's genome.

Genes Identified in Common Childhood Obesity

An article in Science Daily, talks about researchers recently discovering at least two new gene variants that are common among obese children.  Struan F.A. Grant, Ph.D.,lead investigator, and associate director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is in charge of the largest ever genome wide study of common childhood obesity.  Their research has been able to identify and characterize a genetic predisposition to obesity among children.  The study was conducted as an international effort to better understand this major health issue plaguing modern day society.   Of course many people blame the  obvious environmental factors for causing obesity studies of twins and other family based research have provided a possible genetic influence.  Past studies have found connections to adults and children that have extreme obesity but none have shed light in regular childhood obesity. The current analysis included 14 previous studies encompassing 5,530 cases of childhood obesity and 8,300 control subjects, all of European ancestry. The study team identified two novel loci, one near the OLFM4 gene on chromosome 13, the other within the HOXB5

[caption id="attachment_4433" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="These common genetic variants can help develop preventative plans for children who are predisposed to obesity."][/caption]

gene on chromosome 17. They also found a degree of evidence for two other gene variants. None of the genes were previously implicated in obesity.  More research is needed but these findings may be useful in creating a preventative inerventions for children based on their genomes.

Childhood obesity is a growing world wide health issue and if genetic research can help children prevent this condition than we need to fund more research to benefit society and its struggle with this condition.

Genes Identified in Common Childhood Obesity

An article in ScienceDaily shows that at least two new gene variants that increase the risk of common childhood obesity have been identified. "This is the largest-ever genome-wide study of common childhood obesity, in contrast to previous studies that have focused on more extreme forms of obesity primarily connected with rare disease syndromes," said lead investigator Struan F.A. Grant, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "As a consequence, we have definitively identified and characterized a genetic predisposition to common childhood obesity." This study was done by an international collaborative group, the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium.
Obesity is a major health issue in today’s society, and has had a dramatic increase recently in children. Researchers have found that children who are obese have a higher risk of motility as adults. Although many other environmental factors such as diet and exercise contribute to the increasing rates of obesity in children, twin studies and other family-based studies have suggested a genetic component to the disease as well.
Previous studies have found genetic variants that contribute to obesity in adults and children with extreme obesity, but little is known about genes involved with regular childhood obesity. "The Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has recruited and genotyped the world's largest collection of DNA from children with common obesity," said Grant. "However, in order to have sufficient statistical power to detect novel genetic signals, we needed to form a large international consortium to combine results from similar datasets from around the world."
The current analysis included 14 previous studies encompassing 5,530 cases of childhood obesity and 8,300 control subjects, all of European ancestry. Researchers identified two novel loci, one near the OLFM4 gene on chromosome 13, the other within the HOXB5 gene on chromosome 17. They also found a possibility for two other gene variants. None of these genes were previously implicated in obesity.
"This work opens up new avenues to explore the genetics of common childhood obesity," said Grant. "Much work remains to be done, but these findings may ultimately be useful in helping to design future preventive interventions and treatments for children, based on their individual genomes."

[caption id="attachment_4351" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A child with obesity."][/caption]