Scientists have created a new clue over why weight loss can be particularly difficult for obese black women.
The track resides in the belly fat of the 14 extremely obese black women studied by Hisham Barakat, PhD and colleagues. Barakat works at the Department of Medicine at the University of Eastern Carolina in Greenville, n.C.
Past studies have shown that "obese African American women lose less weight and a slower rate than Caucasian women do in a variety of treatments, including conservative interventions, very low calorie intake and surgery", Write the Barakat team, "The Barakat team, of clinical endocrinology
Weight Loss Prescription - Weight Loss Harder for Black Women
The researchers studied 14 white women and 14 black women. All women were very obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40. An BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.
Women in the study by Barrakat arrived at the Department of Surgery at East Carolina University for gastric bypass surgery. With the permission of women, doctors led women's fat samples during surgery.Some of that fat came below the skin of women. Another fat came from depth within the abdominal region.
Scientists were especially interested in certain cell receptors in the adipose tissue of women. These receptors act as docks for a chemical called adenosine and brake fat separation.
Barrakat and colleagues found that obese black women had more adenosine receptors in their deep abdominal fat than obese white women.
The same was not true in the fat tissue removed just below the skin of women. The researchers observe that their findings do not fully explain why weight loss can be more difficult for obese black women than for obese white women. However, they write that the results "launched light on possible causes behind the smaller and slower weight lose of obese [Afro-American] women". "These findings may be useful in the conception of new strategies for obesity control and prevention in [African-American women] and other women too," write Barakat and colleagues.
