Child obesity: obesità infantile
Actually: addirittura
Ultrasound tests on …: test a ultrasuoni=ecografie effettuate
su…
To suggest: indicare
Writing in…: in un articolo apparso su…
Metabolic rate: tasso metabolico
To focus: concentrarsi
… some suggestions: formulare l’ipotesi che…, ipotizzare
Controversial: controverso
To add to the puzzle: aumentare i dubbi, le incertezze
Condition (med): malattia, disturbo (kidney condition/heart
condition)
To draw a blank: far fiasco (risultare negativo)
Ultrasound findings: risultanze ecografiche
Low-grade inflammation state: stato infiammatorio di livello
basso/minima flogosi
Which has been known to…: si ritiene che…
Link: collegamento
To uncover: svelare, rivelare
Body mass index: indice di massa corporea
To reverse: invertire
To call for: richiedere
Observation: studio
To challenge: mettere in discussione
Accepted: comunemente accettato
Child obesity 'may harm thyroid'
Being obese as a child may actually alter the shape
of a gland important to growth and metabolism,
Italian scientists have said.
Ultrasound tests on 186 children suggested their
weight might be linked to structural changes in the
thyroid.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and
Metabolism, the scientists said obesity may be
causing thyroid disorders, not the reverse.
It is not yet clear whether losing weight could solve
the problem.
The thyroid is a gland found in the neck which
releases hormones which control metabolic rate and
child growth.
Scientists have focused on the role of thyroid
hormones in child obesity, with some suggestions
that a problem with the thyroid may be responsible
for some cases of overweight children.
However, this remains controversial, and the
research from the Regional Hospital of Bolzano in
Italy is likely to add to the puzzle.
The changes in thyroid structure they found were
similar to those found in a disease called
Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a condition in which the
body's own immune system attacks the gland.
However, tests for antibodies which would confirm
this problem drew a blank.
Weight loss
Instead, Dr Giorgio Radetti, leading the research,
suggested that general inflammation caused by
obesity could be responsible.
"The ultrasound findings are a bit mysterious, but do
suggest the existence of a low-grade inflammation
state, which has been known to characterise obesity.
"Our study shows that alterations in thyroid function
and structure are common in obese children and we
may have uncovered the link.
"We found an association between body mass index
and thyroid hormone levels which suggests that fat
excess may have a role in thyroid tissue
modification."
Although losing weight can lead to the thyroid
appearing to work properly in tests, he said that he
was not sure that the structural changes found by
ultrasound could be reversed this way, and called for
more studies to investigate.
Professor David Dunger, a paediatric endocrinologist
from the University of Cambridge, said that while it
was an "interesting observation", it was unlikely to
challenge the accepted view that thyroid problems
could contribute to obesity, rather than be caused by
it.
A seguito di una perdita di peso, i risultati degli
esami mostrano un funzionamento della tiroide
apparentemente normale. Tuttavia, secondo il Dr
Radetti, non vi è certezza che i cambiamenti
strutturali rivelati dagli esami ecografici possano
recedere allo stesso modo, e sono pertanto
necessarie ulteriori ricerche.
Il professor David Dunger, pediatra endocrinologo
dell’Università di Cambridge, ha dichiarato che, pur
trattandosi di uno studio interessante, è poco
probabile che possa mettere in discussione
l’opinione comunemente accettata che le disfunzioni
tiroidee possano contribuire all’obesità, piuttosto
che esserne la conseguenza.