Biography
Biography: Edita Stokić
Abstract
During past few years the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically. Obesity traditionally has been defi ned as adisease characterized by body fat accumulation to an extent that causes health disturbances, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease and some types of cancer. On the other side, obesity isn’t homogeneous disease- cardiometabolic disturbances, which are associated with obesity, do not, however, aff ect all obese people. Several studies suggest that "Metabolically healthy but obese" - MHO people show specifi c phenotype and body composition differences compared with obese patients “at risk”. MHO individuals exhibit lower total and intra-abdominal fat mass, lower ectopic fat accumulation and favorable metabolic, hormonal, immune and inflammatory profi le. It is not clear what induces potential transition from metabolically healthy to unhealthy profile, and whether genetic, environmental, lifestyle and psychosocial factors have role. Metabolically obese but normal weight – MONW individuals present a subgroup of individuals with normal BMI, and with insulin resistance, higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and mortality. Th e early identifi cation of individuals with the MONW phenotype would be benefi cial and may have important therapeutic implications. Clinical guidelines should be target more to MHO population, especially to standardization of definition criteria. Future studies should elucidate mechanisms of preserved favorable metabolic profile, and specifi c dynamics of metabolic and neuroendocrine processes in MHO individuals, which may be helpful in tailoring potential interventions.