Body mass index

Whether obesity is a cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease or a shared risk factor has been an enduring subject of debate. Lyall and colleagues have used Mendelian randomization to conclude that there is a causal relationship between obesity and cardiometabolic disease. However, the analyses fail key inherent assumptions. The article does not negate a large body of data indicating that insulin resistance is the primary mechanism driving the progression of cardiometabolic disease.