Obesity, defined as having a BMI (Body Mass Index) of over 30, show a significantly higher risk of other diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer (22, 23, 24). (healthtrends.com)
The researchers posit that natural selection might favor mutations that protect against worm infection and that those same mutations might inadvertently increase the risk of other diseases, such as asthma. (sciencemag.org)
The researchers also found that exercise was significantly less effective than caloric restriction at preventing these changes, although work by others has shown that exercise is associated with reducing the risk of other diseases. (sciencedaily.com)