{"id":31246,"date":"2014-03-19T11:50:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T10:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=31246"},"modified":"2014-03-19T12:07:41","modified_gmt":"2014-03-19T11:07:41","slug":"the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is &#8220;Madonna&#8221; the answer? Definitely \u201cNo&#8221; although the woman nominated one of Time Magazine\u2019s 25 most powerful women of the past century would certainly have something to say about <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/18\/tracey-koehlmoos-youve-come-a-long-way-baby-really\/\">(Dr) Tracey Koehlmoos\u2019 experiences as the only woman on a panel of experts<\/a>. Each time she is introduced as plain \u201cTracey\u201d at yet another high powered meeting where her male counterparts are introduced as \u201cDr X, Professor Y, Captain Z, etc,\u201d she tells herself it\u2019s the same as being known simply as \u201cMadonna\u201d or \u201cAdele.\u201d But, she says, \u201cwhen I am honest with myself, I know this is not actually the case.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The same thing happened at the launch of her own book. Bear in mind that she is not only a doctor, but special assistant to the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, and author of \u201csomething like\u201d 80 publications.<\/p>\n<p>So how does she now respond to these situations? She acknowledges that many others have valued her contributions to the extent of giving her equal billing when they introduce her. But \u201cI do know that things will not improve until I take a stand at least in a small way. It might mean saying, \u201cIt is Dr Koehlmoos, but please call me Tracey,\u201d after an errant introduction or even bringing my \u201cTracey Koehlmoos\u201d name plate to the conference organizer during the first break in the meeting and pointing out, \u201cIt is Dr Koehlmoos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We now have more female prime ministers, CEOs, and editors-in chief. But as this doctor and even a recent Australian PM have found, we\u2019re not there yet. If you\u2019ve had similar experiences, how have you handled them?<\/p>\n<p>Now from the deflating effects of an \u201cerrant introduction\u201d to the inflationary pressures of the wrong genes and the wrong diet. The novel finding of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/348\/bmj.g1610\">large prospective cohort study<\/a> is that, if you\u2019re at the highest genetic risk of obesity, you may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of eating fried food. Harvard researchers used data from three cohort studies (and over 37,000 participants) to calculate genetic risk scores for each participant based on common genetic variants, 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms. They also used food frequency questionnaires and measured height and weight, at the start and at followup. One of their key findings was that eating fried food more than four times per week had twice as big an effect on BMI as for those at lowest genetic risk.<\/p>\n<p>The authors of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/348\/bmj.g1900\">linked editorial<\/a> nominate this as \u201cformal proof of interaction between a combined genetic risk score and environment in obesity.\u201d So how does this affect my next weight loss consultation? It doesn\u2019t yet, say the editorialists\u2014such genetic risk scores predict individual phenotype poorly. And most of us should eat less fried food anyway, regardless of genotype. It would be unwise to ignore genetics entirely though. While these common single nucleotide polymorphisms have \u201crelatively subtle effects on BMI,\u201d rarer single gene forms of obesity do have more dramatic effects. So understanding these may help us tailor management better\u2014lifestyle interventions work better in people who aren\u2019t far off the desired BMI, while weight loss surgery is the preferred option in those with more severe obesity (though we don\u2019t yet know what\u2019s the best operation,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/348\/bmj.g1763\"> as a recent Uncertainties page <\/a>explains). One size definitely doesn\u2019t fit all.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Mabel Chew<\/strong> is practice editor, BMJ.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is &#8220;Madonna&#8221; the answer? Definitely \u201cNo&#8221; although the woman nominated one of Time Magazine\u2019s 25 most powerful women of the past century would certainly have something to say about (Dr) [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447,5750,1357],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-india","category-the-bmj-today","category-us-health-care"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is &#8220;Madonna&#8221; the answer? Definitely \u201cNo&#8221; although the woman nominated one of Time Magazine\u2019s 25 most powerful women of the past century would certainly have something to say about (Dr) [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":577,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"South Asia\",\"The BMJ today\",\"US healthcare\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/19\\\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ","og_description":"Is &#8220;Madonna&#8221; the answer? Definitely \u201cNo&#8221; although the woman nominated one of Time Magazine\u2019s 25 most powerful women of the past century would certainly have something to say about (Dr) [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00","author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat?","datePublished":"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/"},"wordCount":577,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"articleSection":["South Asia","The BMJ today","US healthcare"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/","name":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat? - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-19T10:50:19+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-19T11:07:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/03\/19\/the-bmj-today-is-madonna-the-answer-and-do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The BMJ Today: Is \u201cMadonna\u201d the answer and do these genes make me look fat?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}