Obesity and Diabetic Complications: A Strong Link
Obesity is strongly linked to diabetic complications, according to a large genome-wide analysis. The study reveals that common obesity traits share and drive risk for diabetic kidney disease, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic neuropathy.
Diabetes is a common and chronic condition that can cause high glucose levels to injure small blood vessels over time. This damage can lead to kidney failure, vision loss, and pain, numbness, and autonomic dysfunction in peripheral nerves. These problems often occur together and increase the risk of death.
- Kidney damage can lead to kidney failure
- Retina damage can lead to vision loss
- Peripheral nerve damage can lead to pain, numbness, and autonomic dysfunction
The findings are published in the journal Biomolecules and Biomedicine.
The research team examined seven obesity-related traits and three microvascular complications using large genome-wide association datasets, mapping shared DNA signals and testing causal links.
Author's summary: Obesity is strongly linked to diabetic complications.