{"id":1368,"date":"2017-09-07T10:02:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T08:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/trec\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2017-09-29T11:24:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T09:24:42","slug":"is-obesity-a-causal-factor-of-developing-blood-clots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/trec\/2017\/09\/07\/is-obesity-a-causal-factor-of-developing-blood-clots\/","title":{"rendered":"Is obesity a causal factor of developing blood clots?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Av\u00a0S\u00f8ren Beck Jensen<\/a>
\nPostdoktor ved TREC<\/p>\n

It is well known to most people that obesity is detrimental to health and that \"\"<\/a>cardiovascular disease is a main concern. You may wonder if overweight in itself is the cause\u00a0of these diseases so that weight loss would in fact prevent disease from developing. A\u00a0study\u00a0by Lindstr\u00f5m and colleagues published in the scientific journal Human Genetics<\/em> shows that obesity is indeed a cause\u00a0in the development of venous thrombosis, or a blood clot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Obesity is a growing problem in large parts of the world. Concurrently, the incidence of venous thrombosis\u00a0is increasing. A link between the two conditions is well established, but it is not known if obesity, assessed by a high body mass index (BMI), is a direct cause in the development of venous thrombosis or if something else may cause both obesity and an increased risk of venous thrombosis. Lindstr\u00f6m and colleagues used a large set of genetic variants that are determinants for a person\u2019s BMI to conduct an analysis that could address this question. The analysis showed that high BMI is indeed a cause of venous thrombosis.<\/p>\n

For personal and public health considerations, it is therefore reasonable to trust that a fight against obesity will have a positive effect on reducing the incidence of venous thrombosis. Additionally, excusing yourself from losing the extra pounds because you do not believe they are harmful is no longer valid with regards to the risk of venous thrombosis.<\/p>\n

Reference:\u00a0Lindstr\u00f6m S,\u00a0Germain M,\u00a0Crous-Bou M,\u00a0Smith EN,\u00a0Morange PE,<\/span>\u00a0van Hylckama Vlieg A,\u00a0de Haan HG,\u00a0Chasman D,\u00a0Ridker P,\u00a0Brody J,\u00a0de Andrade M,\u00a0Heit JA,\u00a0Tang W,\u00a0DeVivo I,\u00a0Grodstein F,\u00a0Smith N, Tregouet D,\u00a0Kabrhel C;\u00a0INVENT Consortium.\u00a0Assessing the causal relationship between obesity and venous thromboembolism through a Mendelian Randomization study.<\/a> Human Genetics (2017).<\/em><\/p>\n