Cohen Syndrome and Weight Gain: What the Association Might Imply about the Cause of Obesity

KEY POINTS:

1. The disorder appears to lead to weight gain independent of diet and lifestyle factors.


2. Cohen Syndrome also appears to be able to change the hormonal environment of our fat tissue.


3. These observations seem to support the Lipophilia Hypothesis and challenge the Caloric Balance Hypothesis.

Obesity is a common side effect of this genetic disorder, as the authors of this paper tell us:

[Cohen Syndrome] is a rare genetic disorder caused by autosomal recessive inheritance and characterized by... [features such as] mental retardation... narrow and high arched palate... poor dentition... and truncal obesity."

How could a genetic disorder predispose people to gain weight in the abdomen? And how might this observation relate to the general debate over what constitutes a healthy diet?

As we've discussed, two fundamental hypotheses compete to explain what drives overweight and obesity.

The prevailing Caloric Balance Hypothesis -- the notion that "calories matter" -- mandates that people with this disorder can only gain weight by eating too much or not exercising enough.

The alternative Lipophilia Hypothesis -- the notion that the fat tissue "works for itself" -- tells us the genetic disorder likely deranges the metabolism of the fat tissue itself.

References