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Metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese – the 2013 S tock C onference report
Author(s) -
SamochaBonet D.,
Dixit V. D.,
Kahn C. R.,
Leibel R. L.,
Lin X.,
Nieuwdorp M.,
Pietiläinen K. H.,
RabasaLhoret R.,
Roden M.,
Scherer P. E.,
Klein S.,
Ravussin E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
obesity reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.845
H-Index - 162
eISSN - 1467-789X
pISSN - 1467-7881
DOI - 10.1111/obr.12199
Subject(s) - obesity , medicine , bioinformatics , cardiovascular health , intensive care medicine , gerontology , disease , biology
Summary Obesity is closely associated with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, but some obese individuals, despite having excessive body fat, exhibit metabolic health that is comparable with that of lean individuals. The ‘healthy obese’ phenotype was described in the 1980s, but major advancements in its characterization were only made in the past five years. During this time, several new mechanisms that may be involved in health preservation in obesity were proposed through the use of transgenic animal models, use of sophisticated imaging techniques and in vivo measurements of insulin sensitivity. However, the main obstacle in advancing our understanding of the metabolically healthy obese phenotype and its related long‐term health risks is the lack of a standardized definition. Here, we summarize the proceedings of the 13th S tock C onference of the I nternational A ssociation of the S tudy of O besity. We describe the current research and highlight the unanswered questions and gaps in the field. Better understanding of metabolic health in obesity will assist in therapeutic decision‐making and help identify therapeutic targets to improve metabolic health in obesity.