Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Despite declining smoking rates, U.S. obesity rates continue to rise

If obesity trends continue, the negative effect on the health of the U.S. population will overtake the benefits gained from declining smoking rates, according to a study by U-M and Harvard researchers published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Dec 2009

Lung disease linked to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine

Many people rely on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines as a safe and effective treatment for sleep apnea. But a new case report describes a rare complication—a lingering inflammatory disease of the lungs, apparently related to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine. The report appears in the December Southern Medical Journal, official journal of the Southern Medical Association.

3 Dec 2009

New book presents latest research on neuroendocrine physiology

In this volume an international group of basic and clinical investigators presents their latest research on neuroendocrine physiology, advances in the control of the onset of puberty and its disorders, and basic and clinical aspects of the GH/IGF-1 and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. An entire section is dedicated to pituitary tumors, including genetics and neuroimaging, and another covers the neuroendocrine control of substrate metabolism, including hypothalamic obesity and anorexia.

3 Dec 2009

Exercise remains one of the most effective interventions for peripheral artery disease

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 5 million individuals in the U.S. and is the leading cause of limb amputations. Doctors have long considered exercise to be the single best therapy for PAD, and now a new study helps explain why. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and published in this week's Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the findings demonstrate that a protein called PGC-1alpha plays a key role in the process.

3 Dec 2009

Repeated use of ecstasy drug increases the risk of developing sleep apnea

Repeated use of the drug popularly known as "ecstasy" significantly raises the risk of developing sleep apnea in otherwise healthy young adults with no other known risk factors for the sleep disturbance, a new study by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests.

2 Dec 2009

Fruit flies use same molecular mechanisms as humans for maintaining cholestrol

More importantly, according to two new studies led by a University of Utah human geneticist, fruit flies use the same molecular mechanisms as humans to help maintain proper balances of cholesterol and a key form of stored fat that contributes to obesity. The findings mean that as researchers try to learn more about the genetic and biological processes through which people regulate cholesterol and fat metabolism, the humble fruit fly, also called Drosophila, can teach humans much about themselves.

2 Dec 2009

Integrated eating disorders center to be launched shortly

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in affiliation with the New York State Psychiatric Institute, announced the creation of an integrated eating disorders center. Opening today is a key clinical component of this new center -- The Outlook at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division in White Plains.

2 Dec 2009

Future likely to witness improved therapies and novel drugs to treat lifestyle disorders

Increasing genomic knowledge will lead to the development of improved therapies to treat lifestyle disorders. In the near future, the European lifestyle disorders therapeutics market is set to witness enhanced therapies and novel drugs to treat such conditions and reduce the risk of co-morbidities.

2 Dec 2009

J&JPRD submits an NDA for tapentadol ER tablets

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for tapentadol extended release (ER) tablets, an investigational oral analgesic for the management of moderate to severe chronic pain in patients 18 years of age or older.

2 Dec 2009

Schools need to sell healthy foods to cut junk food intake

It seems like a no-brainer, and it is: Take the junk food out of school vending machines and cafeterias, and kids will eat less junk food, according to a new study that took place in Connecticut.

2 Dec 2009

Healthy eating habits can combat childhood obesity

Two new studies show how important forming healthy food and beverage habits can be in children and adolescents. This science adds to a growing body of evidence that has helped shape a new nutrition and physical activity program from the National Football League and National Dairy Council (NDC) called Fuel Up to Play 60.

2 Dec 2009

Research study on the function of orexin neurons in brain

Japanese research group led by Professor Yasuhiko Minokoshi and Dr. Tetsuya Shiuchi, scientists at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, NIPS, Japan, found that meals stimulated with sweet taste and motivated with its anticipation regularly activates "orexin" in the brain and it stimulates muscle glucose metabolism via the sympathetic nervous system, thereby reducing blood glucose level in mice.

2 Dec 2009

Middle-aged women more likely to show signs of obesity

A small study of middle-aged women finds that "guilt-ridden dieters," impulsive eaters and those too busy to focus on food are the most likely to show signs of obesity.

2 Dec 2009

Obesity research may be misrepresented by scientists working on bias topics, says UAB study

A new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health shows that obesity research may be misrepresented by scientists operating with particular biases on topics related to weight, nutrition and the food industry.

1 Dec 2009

Bonn scientists discover a promising new approach to combat obesity

Brown adipose tissue is different from white fat pads. It contains loads of mitochondria, miniature power stations which among other things can 'burn' fat. In doing this, they normally generate a voltage similar to that of a battery, which then provides energy for cellular processes.

1 Dec 2009

Uninsured cancer patient gives human face to health care debate

The Sacramento Bee has a three-part profile of an uninsured cancer patient, which is tracked alongside the progressing health care reform debate.

1 Dec 2009

New figures show steady decline in European cancer deaths, but variations exist between gender and countries

New figures show there was a steady decline in cancer deaths in the European Union between 1990-1994 and 2000-2004.

1 Dec 2009

Study examines role of low-oxygen exposure in heart failure patients

Distance runners who live at high altitudes with low oxygen levels are known to improve their performance during races in areas that are at sea level. Can heart failure patients, who suffer from fatigue, improve their exercise performance by staying in a tent-like, high-altitude simulator?

1 Dec 2009

D-ATLAS to map the prevalence and costs associated with type 2 diabetes launched

Pinpointing the prevalence and cost of type 2 diabetes and now, the prevalence of obesity (Body Mass Index [BMI] of 30 or greater), is just a mouse click away thanks to a Web-based tool developed by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF).

1 Dec 2009

Type 1 diabetes youth have abnormal insulin resistance that may increase risk of cardiovascular disease

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), youth with type 1 diabetes have now been found to have abnormal insulin resistance. Having abnormal insulin resistance appears to negatively affect heart, blood vessel and exercise function in this population.

1 Dec 2009