Latest news with #non-Europeans
NBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
A genetic test could predict the odds of obesity, allowing for early interventions
A genetic test may one day predict a child's risk of obesity in adulthood, paving the way for early interventions. Certain genetic variants can affect how a person's body stores fat or make them more prone to overeating. Genetic variation can also predict how well a person will respond to different weight loss drugs. In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, more than 600 researchers from around the world worked together to compile genetic data from more than 5 million people — the largest and most diverse genetic dataset to date. They also used genetic data from 23andMe. From the dataset, the researchers were able to create what's known as a polygenic risk score, which takes into account which genetic variants a person has that have been linked to a higher BMI in adulthood. The score, the researchers said, could be used to predict a person's risk of obesity as an adult — before they even turn 5. 'Childhood is the best time to intervene,' said study co-author Ruth Loos, a professor at the University of Copenhagen's Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research. (Research conducted at the center is not influenced by drugmaker Novo Nordisk, though some of the study authors had ties to pharmaceutical companies that make weight loss drugs.) The findings come as obesity is rising around the world. Rates of obesity in adults have more than doubled globally since 1990, and adolescent rates have quadrupled, according to the World Health Organization. About 16% of adults worldwide have obesity and the situation is worse in the United States, where more than 40% of adults have obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show. Twice as effective The new test is not the first that predicts a person's risk of obesity, but Loos and her team showed it was about twice as effective as the method doctors currently use to assess their patients. That polygenetic score can account for about 8.5% of a person's risk for having a high BMI as an adult. The new score increased that to about 17.6%, at least in people with European ancestry. 'That's a pretty powerful risk indicator for obesity, but it still leaves open a lot that is unknown,' said Dr. Roy Kim, a pediatric endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic Children's who was not involved with the research. Based on this score, more than 80% of a person's risk for obesity can be explained by other factors, such as where they live, what kinds of foods they have access to, and how much they exercise. The test was not nearly as effective in predicting obesity risk in non-Europeans. It explained about 16% of the risk for having a high BMI in East Asian Americans, but just 2.2% in rural Ugandans. About 70% of people whose data was included in the study were of predominantly European ancestry. About 14% were Hispanic and typically had a mix of ancestries. About 8% were of predominantly East Asian descent and just under 5% were of predominantly African ancestry. These samples were predominantly from African American people, who largely had mixed ancestry. Just 1.5% were of predominantly South Asian ancestry. Loos said the new score is a big step forward, but that it's still a prototype. The next step is to collect more — and more diverse — data on people with African ancestry in particular to improve how well the score works for everyone, not just white people. She said the score could offer one indicator — what high blood pressure is to heart disease, for example — that could help predict a person's risk of developing obesity. 'Obesity is not only about genetics, so genetics alone can never accurately predict obesity,' Loos said. 'For the general obesity that we see all over the world, we need other factors such as lifestyle that need to be part of the predictions.' Genetics play a bigger role in severe obesity, meaning a BMI of more than 40, she added. Still, identifying a person's genetic risk early on in childhood and intervening early with lifestyle coaching could make a big difference, she said. Research has shown that about 55% of children with obesity go on to have obesity in adolescence, and that about 80% of those individuals will have obesity in adulthood. 'Behavioral things are really important,' Kim said. 'Their environment, their access to healthy food, exercise opportunities, even their knowledge about healthy foods all affect a person's obesity risk.' How important are genetics, really? Although studies in identical twins have found that genetics can account for as much as 80% of the reason a person has obesity, lifestyle factors still play a huge role, Kim said. 'Even with the same genetic makeup, people can have different body types,' he said. 'From a very young age in my practice, we educate patients about the importance of eating protein-rich foods, a lot of fruits and vegetables and not too many refined carbs.' Dr. Juliana Simonetti, co-director of the Comprehensive Weight Management Program at the University of Utah, has been using genetic testing in her adult patients for about five years. She said understanding a person's genes can help doctors better treat weight gain. 'Obesity is not homogeneous. We have different kinds and different presentations,' said Simonetti, who wasn't involved with the new study. Simonetti uses a person's genes to determine if a patient struggles with satiety, or feeling full. 'They eat but do not feel full,' Simonetti said, adding that this is a disorder caused by genetic mutations affecting certain pathways in the body. People who have these mutations 'tend to have higher weight,' she said. But such mutations do not tell the whole genetic story of obesity, Simonetti said. The genes that a person inherits from either parent, even if they are not mutations, also determine how a person's body stores weight or uses energy. Both can play a big role in obesity risk. Genetic testing is also starting to be able to determine how well certain weight loss drugs will work for a person, Simonetti said, but she added this is just the beginning. 'We are talking about three out of 80 mutations that we can treat,' she said. 'We are getting better, and the more data we have, I'm hopeful that we are going to do a better job in being more precise in understanding treatment responses.'
Otago Daily Times
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Hard-fought 2nd pleases Paddon
New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon, with Christchurch's Jared Hudson in the co-driver's seat, claimed a hard-fought second at the Ypres Rally in Belgium at the weekend. The Kiwis become the first non-Europeans to stand on the Ypres podium after the all-tarmac event. Paddon piloted a Hyundai i20N Rally2 car prepared by last year's Belgian Champions, BMA, in a field containing international stars such as Dani Sordo, Jos Verstappen, Freddy Loix and defending champion Stephane Lefebvre. It was all on from the outset as milliseconds separated the frontrunners at times. Paddon and Hudson won Saturday's second stage, putting them into the overall lead. Despite intense challenges from Sordo and Lefebvre, the Kiwis' consistency at delivering top-three stage times throughout all of the day's eight stages kept them in the lead by day's end. On Sunday, with 10 stages to tackle, Lefebvre chipped away at Paddon's lead to top the standings by special stage three. Paddon and Hudson kept the pressure on and were stoked to finish on the podium, just 10.3sec behind Lefebvre. "We always knew it was going to be tough challenge this weekend being up against very fast locals and previous winners," Paddon said. "Our goal was to try and get a podium finish, so we're pleased to have done that. "To be fighting for victory was probably more than we expected, particularly to be leading the rally for half of it. "We put up a good fight and tried everything we could. We didn't quite have enough at the end but, still, to be only 10sec shy of the winners was a good weekend for the team and car." Paddon will be straight back into action at Rally Queensland this weekend. He and longtime co-driver John Kennard resume their bid to win their first Australian Rally Championship titles. They lead their respective drivers'/co-drivers' championship points tables. Paddon has 160 points after two rounds, seven points ahead of second-placed Lewis Bates. Kennard also has 160 points, ahead of Bates' co-driver, Anthony McLoughlin. Queensland is the third round of the six-round Australian championship, and comprises 14 special stages and about 193 competitive kilometres. — APL
Economic Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Foreigners pay twice as much as locals to buy Portugal homes
Synopsis Portugal's housing market faces a challenge. Foreign buyers, especially from outside the European Union, are purchasing properties at significantly higher prices than local residents. This trend is contributing to rising housing costs, making it difficult for many Portuguese citizens to afford homes in cities. The golden visa program, aimed at attracting foreign investment, has been modified to address these concerns. Foreigners from outside the European Union are buying homes in Portugal for double the value paid by domestic buyers, helping to drive up prices in a nation where housing in cities is increasingly out of reach for many locals. ADVERTISEMENT Non-Europeans paid an average €451,000 ($523,000) for a property in Portugal in the first three months of the year, compared with €225,000 paid by locals, the National Statistics Institute said in a report on its website. During the same period, EU buyers spent an average €310,000 to buy a home. Together with Portugal, Italy and Greece are set to register record inflows of millionaires this year, investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners said in a report on Tuesday. Italy is expected to attract more than 3,600 millionaires, Portugal may get more than 1,400 millionaires while Greece could draw more than 1,200 millionaires, it said. Portugal tightens citizenship rules, doubles wait time for foreigners Portugal, in particular, has attracted foreign residents with its mild temperatures, relatively low cost of living, tax incentives and its golden visa program. Surging property prices have created a problem for many locals, who struggle to find affordable homes. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) Average house prices in Portugal reached €2,851 per square meter in May – two and a half times more than in the same month of 2015, according to real estate website 2023, the country ended the golden visa program's real estate investment route in a bid to ease property prices. The program, which is mostly popular with US, Brazilian and Chinese nationals, currently offers non-Europeans a fast-track to residency through options including a minimum €500,000 investment in eligible funds. ADVERTISEMENT (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online. NEXT STORY
Indian Express
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Fifty years after Emergency, the new threats to democracy
Amidst the worsening global commotions, triggered by factors ranging from imperial power rivalries, unending wars, border closures and trade and tariff disputes to pandemics, genocides, extreme weather events, collapsing banks and citizen disaffection, a sinister trend is everywhere gaining traction and seemingly getting the upper hand: A new kind of despotism with thoroughly 21st-century characteristics is everywhere on the rise. To speak of despotism is admittedly to invite confusion and controversy and to risk mental confusions. It's an old word with a complicated and chequered history. Long out of fashion — these days 'autocracy' and 'authoritarianism' are the fashionable but mistaken political buzzwords — despotism has often been dismissed as an emotionally charged and fuzzy word laden with Orientalist prejudices against non-Europeans. But when suitably revised and carefully deployed, despotism is an indispensable keyword for making sense of the new global threats to democracy posed not only by polities as different as Russia, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Cuba, and Vietnam, but also by the flourishing attacks on power-sharing democracies led by demagogues and their admirers in countries such as Viktor Orbán's Hungary, Claudia Sheinbaum's Mexico, Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel and Donald J Trump's America. This worldwide growth of despotism ought to puzzle and worry every thinking person. Considered as a type of rule, as a way of handling power, despotism defies the laws of political gravity. It's a peculiar type of pseudo-democratic government led by rulers skilled in the arts of manipulating and meddling with people's lives, marshalling their support, and winning their obedience. Despotism feeds upon the voluntary servitude of its subjects. Those who think the word despotism is a synonym for repression, fear and raw force are profoundly mistaken. Despotic power is not solely understandable through similes of hammers and nails; it requires thinking in terms of the attraction of metal filings to magnets. In practice, the aspiring architects and established rulers of the new despotism are masters of seduction, deception and subjugation. They calibrate their use of violence and manage, using a combination of slick means, including rigged election victories, to win the submission and loyalty of the ruled. Oiled as well by government handouts, rampant patronage, bags of money, legal trickery, and endless media talk of defending 'the people' against its foes, despotism nurtures the docile subservience of its subjects, including important sections of the middle classes, skilled and unskilled workers and the poor. The result: The triumph of top-down pyramids of power that manage to win millions of supporters at home and admirers and friends well beyond the borders of the states they rule. What's especially worrying is that the spirit of despotism is contagious. Despots and demagogues hunt in packs. Their promiscuity knows no limits. Consider the recent grand show moment when an aspiring despot was greeted with open arms and gifts by his more seasoned counterparts: Donald J. Trump's whirlwind May 2025 tour of West Asia. In Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, the all-American demagogue was showered with the honour and recognition he has long craved. Lavish F-15 fighter jet escorts. Lavender and red carpets, mounted camels and women's hair flipping welcome ceremonies. Riders on white horses and Tesla cybertrucks sporting stars and stripes. Grand marbled halls, dazzling crystal chandeliers, the highest civil decorations, including a pure gold necklace connoting luxury and appreciation, the world's tallest building, more than half a mile high, lit up with an image of the American flag. A campaign-style rally at the region's largest US military base in Qatar. The deliverables? Trillion-dollar business and defence contracts signed by cupidity in the presence of greed and fame. Plans (with Saudi Arabia) to establish a joint nuclear energy programme. A preliminary agreement (with the UAE) to import the most advanced AI chips. A lavish gift (from Qatar) of a luxury jet — all in confirmation of the point that in these times of turbulence, despots must fly together in safety and solidarity. There's growing awareness among journalists, intellectuals and citizens that such displays of despotic pomp and bromance power are threatening the spirit and substance of the freedoms and promises of democracy. In these troubled times, this raises the old question: What's so good about democracy? The shortest answer: To be a democrat is to believe that democracy is much more than popular self-government based on free and fair elections. It is to recognise the need to rein in any form of power that harms lives by bringing hardship, sorrow and indignity. Democracy is a shape-shifting way of protecting humans and their biosphere against the corrupting effects of unaccountable power. This is its radical potential: Democracy is the defiant insistence that people's lives are never fixed, that all things, human and non-human, are built on the shifting sands of space-time, and that no person or group, no matter how much power they hold, can be trusted permanently, in any context, to govern the lives of others. This was surely the wisdom and sentiment motivating those people from many walks of life who bravely resisted Indira Gandhi's Emergency rule between June 1975 and March 1977. They understood that democracy is a means of damage prevention. It's an early warning system, a way of enabling citizens, and whole organisations and networks, to sound the alarm whenever they suspect that others are about to cause them harm, or when calamities are already bearing down on their heads. The German anti-philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously complained that democracy stands for the disbelief in rule by elites. It does, and for good reason. Democracy brings things back to Earth. It serves as a reality check on unrestrained power exercised by strong-armed despots and demagogues backed by 'the people'. It is the best means so far invented of ensuring that those in charge of organisations don't stray into cuckoo land, wander into territory where misadventures of power are concealed by lies, silence and weaponised nonsense. The writer is professor of Politics at the University of Sydney. His latest book is Thinking About Democracy in Turbulent Times: Sorbonne Lectures (2025)
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Portugal tightens citizenship rules, doubles wait time for foreigners
Portugal has tightened its citizenship rules, extending the wait period for most foreigners to ten years from five. The new measures were announced by Presidency Minister Antonio Leitao Amaro after a cabinet meeting on Monday. Citizens from Brazil, Angola and other nations in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries will now have to wait seven years, while others must wait ten years. To qualify, applicants will also be required to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language and an understanding of the country's culture. 'These are essential changes for the times in which we live,' Amaro said after the cabinet meeting. The measures will be voted on in parliament in the coming days, he added. The move comes as Portugal faces a sharp rise in its foreign population. The country now has roughly 1.6 million foreign residents, making up about 15% of its total population, almost three times the number in 2019, according to the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) How does Portugal's Golden Visa change? Live Events The changes will also affect Portugal's popular golden visa program. At present, non-Europeans can apply for citizenship five years after making a qualifying investment of €500,000. Under the new rules, the wait will be extended, making the route to citizenship longer for wealthy investors. The government will also create a new border police force and revoke citizenship for naturalized immigrants convicted of serious crimes, Amaro said. In addition, Portugal will end a program that granted nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews of Portuguese origin. These measures reflect the government's effort to adjust its policies in line with demographic shifts and social needs, Amaro said.
