BOSTON—Having a lower percentage of body fat may not always
lower your risk for heart disease and diabetes, according to a
study by an international consortium of investigators, including
two scientists from the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew
SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS). The
Institute researchers, Douglas P. Kiel, M.D., M.P.H., and David
Karasik, Ph.D., who are working with the Framingham Heart Study,
identified a gene that is linked with having less body fat, but
also with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart
disease, examples of so-called "metabolic diseases." "We've
uncovered a truly fascinating genetic story and, when we found
the effect of this gene, we were very intrigued by the
unexpected finding," says Dr. Kiel, a senior scientist at the
Institute for Aging Research and a professor of medicine at HMS.
"People, particularly men, with a specific form of the gene are
both more likely to have lower percent body fat, but also to
develop heart disease and type