Researchers at the University of Virginia are now able to explain why obesity causes harmful inflammation, which often leads to diabetes, clogged arteries, and other health problems.
Their findings may eventually lead to a medical treatment for the inflammation, which so often causes other health problems for obese Americans.
The research team found that unstable and damaging atoms called free radicals – produced naturally by our bodies – attack substances known as lipids inside the fat tissue, causing swelling.
“Now, knowing that some of these molecules are really bad guys, so to speak, eliminating them from the circulation may have a very beneficial effect on chronic diseases,” said Norbert Leitinger, PhD, in the university’s Department of Pharmacology.
In Hampton, 35 percent of the adult population is obese according to the 2017 County Health Rankings, while that number is 32 percent in Newport News.
Obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 percent or higher.
In Virginia 27 percent of the total population is obese, making the state 29 th in the nation for adult obesity. In 1990, adult obesity in Virginia stood at just 11.3 percent.
However, according to 2014 data from the Greater Hampton Roads Community Indicator, the percentage rises to 68.1 in Hampton and 63 percent in Newport News when measuring adults in both obese and overweight, which is a BMI of 25-29.9 percent.
Identifying the cause of disease associated with obesity may allow for the development of a drug or treatment to combat the inflammation caused by the free radicals and lipids – a process termed lipid oxidation.
“All of these diseases have a common denominator,” said researcher Vlad Serbulea, PhD, with the UVA School of Medicine. “It may well be that we’ve identified what starts off the whole cascade of inflammation and metabolic changes.”
In addition to type 2 diabetes, being overweight or obese increases the risk of things like high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, breathing problems and breast, prostate and colon cancers.
