A new study that has been published in the February edition of PLAS Medicine has raised questions regarding the link between type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The study was conducted over a period of 15 years on 7000 subjects who were all public servants in the UK. On the commencement of the study every subjects was diabetes free.

Over the 15 years 645 of the subjects developed type 2 diabetes. It was found that there were three clear patterns of obesity on overweight that had emerged.

1.Stable weight group.

This was by far the largest group. There were 604 people in this group. It was found that that insulin resistance was slightly elevated before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

2.Progressive weight gainers group.

This group had 15 subjects. It was found that this group had a large increase in insulin resistance before diagnosis.

3.Persistently obese.

This group contained 26 people. These were people who were severely overweight during the study. It was found that this group had only slightly elevated insulin resistance, however in this group it was also found that the insulin secreting beta cells were dying off.

It is an accepted fact that obesity is a risk factor for type two diabetes. It is also a fact that there are many people who are obese which do not have the disease, as there are many non-obese people who do have the disease.

Whilst the trigger for type 2 diabetes is not yet understood, it is clear that obesity plays a role. The researchers concluded that a much more diverse population should be studied to gain a deeper understanding of the links between diabetes and obesity.

Follow this link to read and Abstract of this study in the February 2014 edition of PLOS Medicine.