Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Obesity associated with less favorable outcome after radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Obese men with prostate cancer are at higher risk for treatment failure after primary radiation therapy, according to a new study.

27 Jun 2006

Not always harmful to health to be overweight

The conventional wisdom says that it is always harmful to your health to be overweight, and all obese and overweight people should try to lose weight.

26 Jun 2006

Green leaves may fight obesity

Could a substance found in green leaves be used as a means of combating obesity, by being added to various functional foods to keep the consumer feeling full longer?

26 Jun 2006

Extensive regulations make research difficult

According to Norway's functional genomics researchers, it has become more difficult in recent years to begin research projects based on genetic samples from patients from hospitals or participants in health surveys.

26 Jun 2006

Losing your job could cost you your life!

As if there wasn't already enough to worry about, now researchers are saying that losing your job late in your career doubles your chances of a heart attack or stroke.

21 Jun 2006

Childhood obesity measurements in schools could do more harm than good

The Government's recently announced initiative to screen the weight of four and ten year olds in schools could be psychologically harmful to children and even result in some developing eating disorders.

20 Jun 2006

Brits get serious about junk food advertising

If the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Britain has its way restrictions on advertising junk food will have ramifications which could extend well beyond television and will affect web sites, computer games, cinemas, theatres, packaging and school activities and sponsorship.

20 Jun 2006

New guidelines on obesity in the U.S. may end up harming children

New guidelines on obesity in the U.S. may end up harming children, says an article in the British Medical Journal.

18 Jun 2006

Elevation of fat-derived molecule foretells early insulin resistance

A study in the June 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reveals that elevated levels of a molecule called RBP4 (retinol binding protein 4) can foretell early stages in the development of insulin resistance.

14 Jun 2006

Major intestinal surgery may boost the chances of subsequent vitamin A deficiency

Major intestinal surgery, including stomach reduction for obesity, may boost the chances of subsequent vitamin A deficiency, suggests a small study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

14 Jun 2006

Coffee may help prevent cirrhosis of the liver

Researchers in the U.S. suggest that drinking coffee may help protect against alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver.

12 Jun 2006

Japanese researchers using PET imaging detect the beginnings of atherosclerosis

Using positron emission tomography (PET), the medical isotope 15O-water and cold pressor tests, Japanese researchers were able to detect the beginnings of atherosclerosis - before the disease became clinically evident.

9 Jun 2006

Tandem-pore K+ channels mediate inhibition of orexin neurons by glucose

One of the body's basic survival mechanisms is the neural machinery that triggers the hungry brain to the alertness needed for seeking food.

From The University of Manchester 7 Jun 2006

First analysis of the genes of a community of human microbes

Researchers have completed the first analysis of the genes of a community of human microbes, an accomplishment that has far-reaching implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment of many human diseases.

7 Jun 2006

Correlation between education, smoking and obesity

Researchers from Cornell University use rich microdata from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth in 1979 to analyze the correlation between high school completion and the two leading preventable causes of death - smoking and obesity.

7 Jun 2006

Impact of obesity on treatment of chronic hepatitis C

According to a new study, obese patients chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and treated with combination drug therapy may have better outcomes if the underlying abnormalities caused by excessive fat tissue are corrected.

6 Jun 2006

PET imaging of cerebral cannabinoid CB1 receptors with [11C]JHU75528

A team of Johns Hopkins researchers developed a new radiotracer - a radioactive substance that can be traced in the body - to visualize and quantify the brain's cannabinoid receptors by positron emission tomography (PET).

6 Jun 2006

Gardenia fruit compound helps treat the symptoms of type 2 diabetes

A Gardenia fruit extract traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat the symptoms of type 2 diabetes does indeed contain a chemical that reverses some of the pancreatic dysfunctions that underlie the disease, researchers report in Cell Metabolism.

6 Jun 2006

Dietary glycemic index and carbohydrate in relation to early age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of vision loss in older adults and a person's risk may partly depend upon diet.

6 Jun 2006

PSA test alone not an ideal predictor of prostate cancer

Recent studies suggest that testing blood for prostate specific antigen (PSA) alone does not produce an ideal predictor of prostate cancer, and emerging data suggest this is especially true for obese men.

6 Jun 2006