Precision Medicine in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: The Relevance of Early-Life Exposures

摘要

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is highly prevalent and devastating. Obesity is a diabetogenic factor, driving insulin resistance and a compensatory demand for increased insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta cells; a failure to address this demand results in diabetes. Accordingly, primary and secondary prevention of obesity are at the core of diabetes prevention programs. The development of obesity and declining beta-cell function often span many years or decades before diabetes is clinically manifest. Thus, characterizing the early-life process and risk factors that set disease trajectories may yield novel targets for early intervention and help improve the accuracy of prediction algorithms, factors germane to the emerging field of precision medicine.