A Russian therapist highlights that diabetes can develop in individuals of normal weight, emphasising the roles of genetics and body composition in the disease’s onset.
A Russian therapist has pushed back against the widespread belief that diabetes only affects people who are overweight, saying the condition can also develop in people with a normal body weight.
Olga Sukhareva said insulin function can fail even when a person is not obese. She also pointed to possible genetic faults in receptors that help the body respond properly to insulin, as well as inherited susceptibility that can raise the risk of disease in people without excess weight. In a post on her Telegram channel, Sukhareva highlighted the so-called “skinny fat” body type, where someone may appear slim but have little muscle and more internal fat.
According to Sukhareva, that lack of muscle can contribute to insulin resistance, a condition in which the body’s cells respond poorly to insulin and which increases the risk of diabetes. Her comments echo wider medical guidance that body size alone does not determine risk. Healthline, Harvard Health and other medical sources note that genetics, age, family history and lifestyle all play a part, while research in PubMed has also described a normal-weight metabolic phenotype linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Natalia Mokrysheva, director of Russia’s National Medical Research Centre for Endocrinology, said about 12 million people in Russia have diabetes and roughly half do not know it, underscoring the scale of undiagnosed disease.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
