Obesity rhymes with precariousness. This is the observation that emerges in the conclusions of a study called PrevenDiab and led by a researcher from Lille, Professor Philippe Froguel, and his team, for a year and a half, within the Diabetes Research Institute (Egid). On the occasion of World Obesity Day this Saturday, 20 Minutes provides an update on this study which aims to demonstrate that a precarious life is an aggravating factor in triggering diabetes.
“As surprising as it may seem, no specific study had been launched on the link between precariousness and diabetes”, says Philippe Froguel, whose research team had discovered, in 1998, a first gene responsible for certain forms of diabetes. and obesity. But if this diabetes specialist has advanced genetic knowledge around obesity, he does not evade environmental causes: “overall, weight variations are linked for 70% to genes and for 30% to the environment. »
The hope of improving prevention
Conducted with the Institut Pasteur health center in Lille, the PrevenDiab study is therefore already following 750 patients considered precarious by the National Health Insurance Fund. The study targets 2,000 volunteers. With, in mind, the hope of improving prevention. “The first results show a number of prediabetics, that is to say with a blood sugar level that is too high, greater than 50% in these precarious people compared to the average”, explains Professor Froguel. It remains to be determined which facets of precariousness are most associated with poor health.
A study in Finland had already shown that the number of children per family, the fact of living far from city centers or whether the parents smoke or not, were all factors of obesity. “We know, for example, that tobacco makes insulin less effective,” says Professor Froguel. But there is still a lot to discover about this disease that is obesity. »
Less “twenty years of life expectancy”
And the stakes are high. “The causes are multiple and they must be found, even if it is not simple, recognizes Philippe Froguel. Because obesity accelerates aging. An obese person loses twenty years of life expectancy. And it’s not just about diet or prevention. “If you have addiction problems, going on a diet is useless, on the contrary, if you are the victim of a genetic disorder of appetite control”, warns the researcher.
Thus, the second part of the study provides care for people with prediabetes, via associations specializing in precariousness. “The primary objective is to reintegrate these people into the health system,” he explains. This is a point that goes beyond the research side and is just as complicated. Then we can see whether or not this early treatment is really beneficial. This is the other objective of the study. »
A treatment for teenagers suffering from severe obesity
A Lille team from the EGID, led by Dr. Amélie Bonnefond, has just demonstrated that, in children, certain forms of severe obesity of genetic origin can be treated with a drug. “These results reveal the importance of genetic diagnosis to detect these forms which lead to a failure in the control of satiety and appetite”, underlines the EGID, in a press release.
After 25 years of effort, setmelanotide, the development of which stems from the discoveries made in 1998 by the team of Pr Philippe Froguel, is finally available in France to treat these young adolescents who are severely overweight. “However, this drug is very expensive, around 300,000 euros per year, and has certain side effects, warns the Research Institute. Also, it should be reserved for children with genetic obesity who can be specifically targeted by this drug. »