Understanding Metabolism Might Improve Care
Researchers said on Thursday that four genetic variations appear to determine the speed at which people burn up food, a finding that could one day help doctors offer patients better individual care.
The different metabolisms in people show how others can be more susceptible to diseases such as diabetes. This explains why response to diet, exercise and drugs varies from person to person.
Karsten Suhre, a researcher at the Helmholtz Center in Munich, said knowing right away how a person’s body will break down molecules in the blood that build up muscle and cells and provide energy could lead to better care.
The genes of 284 people were scanned by researchers, and they found four linked to determining metabolic rates.
"These genes appear to be involved or play a key role in metabolism," Suhre said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
He said, this potentially paves the way for more personalized health care in which doctors could use knowledge of a patient’s metabolism gleaned from their genetic make-up to determine treatment.
He added, this might prove particularly useful for treating conditions linked to metabolism, for example, coronary artery disease and obesity.
"These findings could result in a step toward personalized healthcare and nutrition based on a combination of genotyping and metabolic characterization," Suhre and colleagues wrote in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS Genetics.
Image Courtesy National Institutes of Health
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