A study looking at obesity in people with Barrett's oesophagus

The study team found that although some people with Barrett’s oesophagus were normal weight, more people who were overweight had the condition. And this was highest in the people whose fat was mainly around their waist (abdominal obesity). 

The study team asked people who were due to have an endoscopy to take part in the study. 

When people agreed to take part the team: 

• asked them a few questions about their health
• recorded their body weight, height, waist and hip measurements
• did a test to measure how much of the body is made up of fat
• took a sample of blood

Depending on the results of the endoscopy people were put into 1 of 2 groups.

• 250 people with Barrett’s oesophagus
• 224 who did not have Barrett’s oesophagus (the control group)

The study team then looked at a number of different factors including:

• how many people were overweight or obese
• where people’s fat was in their body
• people’s insulin  levels

They found that:

• 99 people (39.6%) with Barrett’s oesophagus were overweight
• 70 people (31.3%) in the control group were overweight
   
• 80 people (32%) with Barrett’s oesophagus were obese
• 51 people (22.8%) in the control group were obese
   
• 189 people (75.6%) with Barrett’s oesophagus had most of their fat around their waist (abdominal obesity)
• 115 people (51.3%) in the control group had abdominal obesity
   

The study team looked at people’s insulin levels and other factors that are linked with metabolic syndrome. This is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke. They found that people with higher insulin levels and metabolic syndrome were more likely to have Barrett’s oesophagus.

The team concluded that abdominal obesity is a high risk factor for developing Barrett’s oesophagus. This adds to the importance of health promotion programmes which help people to lose weight and manage their diet. 

They would like to see more work done on the link between insulin levels and metabolic syndrome and Barrett’s oesophagus. This would help us understand more about how these conditions are linked. 

We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.