Weight Loss News and Research

Latest Weight Loss News and Research

New study finds blood-spinal cord barrier compromised in mice with ALS

The blood-spinal cord barrier is functionally impaired in areas of motor neuron damage in mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), report researchers at the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair.

21 Nov 2007

Experimental obesity drug a success for Danish company

An experimental obesity drug manufactured by a Danish company appears to be a success.

20 Nov 2007

U.S. approval of Nexavar (sorafenib) for inoperable liver cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Nexavar (sorafenib) for use in patients with a form of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma, when the cancer is inoperable.

19 Nov 2007

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell opens new section of general surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery

Opening the doors to one of the first academic medical program dedicated to surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has created a new section of General Surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery.

19 Nov 2007

Patients taking anti-obesity drugs will only see "modest" weight loss

The study, which looked at the long-term effectiveness of anti-obesity medications, found that three drugs recommended for long-term use - orlistat, sibutramine and rimonabant, reduced weight by less than 5kg (11 pounds). This equated to a loss of less than 5% of total body weight.

19 Nov 2007

Weight-loss drug doubles the risk of depression and anxiety

A weight loss pill which was initially hailed as some kind of wonder drug is now thought to more than double the risk of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

19 Nov 2007

Experts say obese women should be refused fertility treatment

A fertility organisation in Britain is saying that severely obese women should be barred from having National Health Service fertility treatment until they have lost weight.

15 Nov 2007

Obesity is an independant risk factor for prostate cancer-related death

Men who are overweight or obese when diagnosed with prostate cancer are at greater risk of death after treatment, according to a new study in the December 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

13 Nov 2007

Fear of gaining weight and smoking cessation in women

Is a fear of getting fatter partly to blame for the fact that nearly one in five American women still smokes, and many don't try to quit"

6 Nov 2007

Potential new treatment for severe obesity

A team of researchers from the St Vincent's Campus in Sydney have developed a novel way to control the extreme weight loss, common in late stage cancer, which often speeds death.

6 Nov 2007

Scientists in Australia discover how to switch hunger on and off

Scientists in Australia have found how to switch hunger on and off and they say their discovery could be used to stop weight loss in terminally ill patients or produce weight loss in the morbidly obese.

6 Nov 2007

Effects of weight gain and subsequent weight loss on endothelial function

When lean healthy young adults gained about 9 pounds, the functioning of their blood vessel lining became impaired -- but shedding the weight restored proper functioning, according to a Mayo Clinic research report.

6 Nov 2007

Weight loss - some people just lsoe more!

There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to weight loss through exercise, says Queensland University of Technology behavioural scientist Neil King.

2 Nov 2007

Prediabetes is a wake up call and a chance for lifestyle changes

New data suggests that 54 million Americans may be on track to develop diabetes within the next 10 years.

2 Nov 2007

Watching TV found to be linked to obesity and now hypertension in kids

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego; the Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of South Alabama determined that television viewing is not only linked to childhood obesity, but also to hypertension in children, according to a study published in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

31 Oct 2007

Somalia experiencing huge increase in cases of visceral leishmaniasis

The international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontières has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of patients with the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis ("kala azar") admitted to its treatment center in Somalia.

31 Oct 2007

Government restrictions on weight loss surgeries limit access for poor, underinsured patients

Thresholds limiting bariatric surgeries to high-volume centers disproportionately restrict access for poor and underinsured patients, populations which are among the most in need of them, an analysis led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows.

30 Oct 2007

Preventing lung scarring may extend lives of lung cancer patients

Researchers have found that using a special type of drug called a pharmaceutical monoclonal antibody to block the integrin beta6-TGF-beta pathway prevents a serious side effect of radiation therapy for lung cancer patients – pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lungs), thereby extending patients' lives and improving their quality of life, according to a study presented at the Plenary I session on October 29, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

29 Oct 2007

Hunger influenced by leptin hormone

Researchers at UCLA have determined the brain circuits involved in hunger that are influenced by a hormone called leptin.

29 Oct 2007

Obesity risks increase after menopause

Postmenopausal women are at an age when the incidence and exacerbation of the chronic health conditions associated with obesity become more prevalent.

25 Oct 2007