Dec 10, 2009

Structural variation in the human genome.

Nat Rev Genet. 2006 Feb;7(2):85-97.

Feuk L, Carson AR, Scherer SW.

The Centre for Applied Genomics and Program in Genetics and Genomic Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The first wave of information from the analysis of the human genome revealed SNPs to be the main source of genetic and phenotypic human variation. However, the advent of genome-scanning technologies has now uncovered an unexpectedly large extent of what we term ’structural variation’ in the human genome. This comprises microscopic and, more commonly, submicroscopic variants, which include deletions, duplications and large-scale copy-number variants – collectively termed copy-number variants or copy-number polymorphisms – as well as insertions, inversions and translocations. Rapidly accumulating evidence indicates that structural variants can comprise millions of nucleotides of heterogeneity within every genome, and are likely to make an important contribution to human diversity and disease susceptibility

Dec 7, 2009

Overweight and Obesity

Obesity definition is very straightforward. Obesity is simply defined as being overweight. It signifies that excessive amounts of fat are collected in your body, which leads to the overmuch body weight. An individual’s weight must be in balance with his or her height, which entails within the body mass index (BMI). The ideal BMI goes between 18.5 to 24.9. So, in clinical terms Body mass index of 30 and above is defined as obesity.Obesity has bad effects on the general health and lifestyle of a person. People who are obese become very inactive as they realize it hard to take part in great number of everyday activities. They cannot move easily, they are all the time exhausted and they are put in risk of becoming sick with diverse kinds of illnesses ranging from cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, and lots of others.

What are the causes of obesity. As already stated that most common reasons for obesity can be inactive lifestyle, high intake of calories and even scientific reasons (like psychiatric, medical and genetic causes). As mentioned above, a inert and unmoving lifestyle is the first on the list of causes of obesity. An individual finds it troublesome to exercise or go in for some sport, which step by step has negative influence on his weight making him obese.Genetics or heredity is another cause of obesity. It has been found out that the gene for Obesity has been circulated from generation to generation. Thus, the children whose parents are obese show a tendency to be obese.

People who are afflicted with genetic factors for obesity have many problems with losing weight in the long term. What is more, obesity may appear because of some psychological problems. It signifies that people show a tendency of overeating themselves when they are hopeless, upset, enraged, even weary with something that, consequently, leads to obesity. As well, several diseases and conditions like Cushing’s syndrome, Hypothyroidism, Depression, and certain neurological problems cause gluttony which successively causes storing of too much fat in the body.
But, the most general reason why people overeat is that they lack time to eat healthy food as they are overcharged with many responsibilities. Wild schedules have given to the use of fast and processed food, which, on one hand, don’t have enough vitamins and minerals and, on the other, has a high amount of calories.

So, how may a person eliminate obesity? Obese people think that they will be fat till the end of their life and that they will never slim down. Of course this is nonsense, and there is a solution. You may easily cure obesity on condition that provided that you are well organized, have a strong will, and on condition that you comply with the regulations that you must follow before you decide to begin with a diet. It is most important to recognize the problem and then go to your doctor who will will best advise what to do considering your obesity issue.

Fortunately, there are great numbers of weight loss plans today, which show outstanding results. Or you may even select some other methods that fit your needs, among which some may be very extreme like obesity surgical process or ingestion of anti-obesity drugs. Very recently, genetic analysis is proving to have some very good efefcts on weight loss plans. For more information www.genebright.com