Mixed
Higher body mass index (BMI) acts as a causal agent for a broad range of health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, high blood pressure, and various cancers, as demonstrated by Mendelian randomization studies.
Maintaining a healthy body weight is not just about aesthetics; it is a direct causal factor in preventing serious diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. While BMI is an imperfect measure, keeping it within a healthy range reduces your risk. If you have obesity, lifestyle changes, medical interventions, or in severe cases, surgery, are effective ways to reduce this risk.
To date, MR studies using BMI-associated variants have provided evidence of a causal effect of greater adiposity on a number of indicators of reduced cardiovascular health, including increased blood pressure (43), increased fasting glucose and insulin (44), decreased HDL-C (44) and increased systemic inflammation (45). Causal inference with respect to complex diseases is challenging however, a causal role for increased adiposity has been evidenced for type 2 diabetes T2D) (44) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (46).
Why this rating
The paper relies on large-scale Mendelian randomization studies and GWAS, which are robust for causal inference but subject to pleiotropy limitations.
Source
Body mass index: Has epidemiology started to break down causal contributions to health and disease?
Laura J. Corbin et al. · Obesity · 2016
DOI 10.1002/oby.21554
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
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