Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

New treatment helps obese patients to feel full

In the race to develop drugs to fight obesity, researchers have found a possible new treatment to help obese patients "feel full" and have lauded it a success.

25 Jul 2005

New research finds molecular link between obesity and diabetes

Researchers say they have discovered a molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and the link could be a potential target for new drugs to treat the disease.

21 Jul 2005

Taste reigns supreme, whereas nutrition varies between consumers

High hopes of helping Americans become thinner and healthier through new menu options came up against the hard reality of consumer preferences as foodservice experts dissected the challenges of feeding a nation in the grips of an obesity epidemic.

21 Jul 2005

Obese people are more likely than normal-weight people to injure themselves

Researchers collected health and injury data during a one-year period on more than 2,500 adults living in Colorado. More than one out of four (26 percent) of the extremely obese male participants reported personal injuries, and more than one out of five (21.7 percent) extremely obese women also reported injuries.

20 Jul 2005

Protein found in fat cells is a newly discovered cause of insulin resistance

A study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has shown that a protein found in fat cells is a newly discovered cause of insulin resistance, establishing a previously unidentified molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes and offering a potential new target for the development of drugs to treat diabetes.

20 Jul 2005

Metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes

A new review of studies confirms that the drug metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes. Using metformin alone can improve control of blood glucose, while also reducing risk factors for heart disease such as excess body weight, cholesterol levels and hypertension, the review found.

20 Jul 2005

Children enrolled in kid-oriented diet and exercise programs are likely to adopt healthier eating and activity patterns

...according to an updated systematic review. Although the youngsters did not experience significant weight loss during the studies, most of which lasted a year or less, the reviewers note promising trends.

19 Jul 2005

Insulin resistance increases a person's risk for development of congestive heart failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major cause of illness and death, according to background information in the article. The death rate for patients with CHF is 4 to 8 times that of the general population. The predominant causes of heart failure are hypertension and coronary heart disease.

19 Jul 2005

No single PSA level ensures safety from prostate cancer risk

Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., professor and chair of urology at the U T Health Science Center, is looking for a better test - or set of tests - to diagnose prostate cancer and to distinguish between cancers that will kill men if left untreated and those that will not threaten health and do not need treatment.

19 Jul 2005

Variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity

Scientists in France and the United States report that a variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity, key features of the "insulin resistance syndrome" that affects more than 50 million people in this country and a similar number in Europe.

19 Jul 2005

Decline in physical activity plays key role in weight gain among girls

Girls who were inactive during adolescence gained an average of 10 to 15 pounds more than active girls, according to results of a 10-year observational study of obesity. Total calorie intake increased only slightly and was not associated with the weight gains.

19 Jul 2005

The more a man sits at his desk, the more likely he is to be overweight

...says a new Australian study suggesting that the workplace may play an important role in the growing obesity epidemic.

19 Jul 2005

Scientists have identified a gene associated with both childhood and adult obesity

According to research published today in Nature Genetics, the team from Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, and the CNRS Lille, France, have identified a gene (ENPP1), with strong links to childhood obesity in 3,147 in a sample of 4,886 French Caucasian individuals.

18 Jul 2005

Growing body of evidence indicating that childhood obesity is linked to a lack of exercise

A study published by the medical journal The Lancet dealt another blow to the "food police" and the trial lawyers seeking to blame food for the nation's expanding waistline.

15 Jul 2005

Video games can be useful in health care and research

One innovative application of video games in health care is their use in pain management as the degree of attention needed to play such a game can distract the player from the sensation of pain, writes Mark Griffiths, Professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University.

14 Jul 2005

Consumer group wants health warnings on soft drinks

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a U.S. consumer group, are petitioning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for warnings to be placed on soft drinks in order to alert consumers of the dangers of too much sugar.

14 Jul 2005

Decline in activity in the transition from childhood to adulthood could be responsible for increased weight gain in US girls

Obesity is either caused by an increase in energy intake, or reduced energy expenditure, or both. However, it is difficult to state with certainty the cause of obesity.

13 Jul 2005

A new study shows that the number of Americans who had weight-loss surgery quadrupled between 1998 and 2002

A new study shows that the number of Americans who had weight-loss surgery quadrupled between 1998 and 2002.

13 Jul 2005

Sirna Therapeutics granted new UK patents

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that the United Kingdom (UK) Patent Office has granted the Company two additional short interfering RNA (siRNA) target patents. The first patent covers any siRNA with one or more chemical modifications targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).

12 Jul 2005

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women, a condition that can, ultimately, lead to a decrease in fitness level and the development of metabolic disorders.

12 Jul 2005