Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Multicultural approach to health needed for well-being of indigenous people

Respect for cultural diversity and a deep understanding of the needs of different communities are key to achieving health equity among indigenous peoples, says the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

9 Aug 2004

Clinical trial of lipase inhibitor for the treatment of obesity

Peptimmune, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company, announced that physicians have treated the first participant in a clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of GT389-255, a lipase inhibitor conjugated to a fat binding polymer for the treatment of obesity.

9 Aug 2004

No increased risk of heart attacks among snus/snuff users, unlike smokers

A collaborative study involving Sunderby Hospital, Luleå, and Umeå University in Sweden confirms that men who smoke run a substantial risk of developing diabetes. On the other hand, no parameters indicate that using snus (moist snuff) increases this risk.

9 Aug 2004

Carb-conscious dieters may be lowering their risk of breast cancer

Carb-conscious dieters may be lowering their risk of breast cancer while they’re shedding pounds, based on the findings of research published in this month’s edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

9 Aug 2004

Parents, teens underestimating weight

Obese teenagers and their parents often underestimate their weight, making them less likely to seek help or adopt a healthier lifestyle, an RMIT University study has found.

6 Aug 2004

24-year long asthma study is answering doctors' questions about asthma and its causes

Doctors have concluded that children do not usually outgrow asthma after puberty as was previously assumed. There are also other factors that contribute to the onset of asthma in test subjects, including infection and obesity.

5 Aug 2004

Approval of cholesterol-lowering therapy Lipitor for the prevention of cardiovascular disease

Pfizer has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its cholesterol-lowering therapy Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease by reducing heart attack risk in people with normal to mildly elevated cholesterol levels who have other cardiovascular risk factors.

5 Aug 2004

Researchers study whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip

Researchers at The University of Nottingham are studying whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip — the most common medical condition to affect the joints.

3 Aug 2004

Children should be screened for high blood pressure at age 3

A new report from The National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on Children calls attention to the role of hypertension in the current epidemic of obesity in children, and underscores the need for intervention.

3 Aug 2004

Switches in the brain that tell the body to stop eating and start burning calories

A Brown-led research team has discovered a pair of universal switches in the brain that tell the body to stop eating and start burning calories.

3 Aug 2004

Scientists create mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets

By altering the expression of a single -- albeit different – gene, Drs. Roger Davis (UMASS Medical School, USA) and Ying-Hue Lee (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) have succeeded in creating two different strains of transgenic mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets.

2 Aug 2004

Japanese study on eggs and mortality is not scientifically sound

Representatives of the American Egg Board's Egg Nutrition Center as well as independent scientists say that a just-released Japanese study on eggs and mortality is not scientifically sound because the subset of women studied was too small to deliver accurate data.

29 Jul 2004

Misfiring proteins linked to sick feeling of type 2 diabetics

After a series of studies in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Freund, a clearer picture is emerging: A disruption of signaling proteins in the immune system may be responsible for the inflammation that makes someone with type 2 diabetes feel sick and increases the risk of serious complications.

29 Jul 2004

Importance of physical education in schools to combat childhood obesity

A University of Newcastle, Australia, academic has received a national award for his research into the importance of physical education in schools to combat childhood obesity.

29 Jul 2004

Women with a history of cancer in their family are better off having MRI scans instead of mammograms

New research by Mieke Kriege at the Department of Medical Oncology, Rotterdam Family Cancer Clinic suggests that women with a history of cancer in their family are better off having MRI scans instead of mammogram's.

28 Jul 2004

Leptin's fat-burning role in humans

For nearly a decade, scientists have known that leptin plays an important fat-burning role in humans. But the map of leptin's path through the body – the key to understanding how and why the hormone works – is still incomplete.

27 Jul 2004

Traveling to and from work can reduce cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes

Research published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that moderate exercise can reduce cardiovascular disease deaths in people with type 2 diabetes, even if that activity comes from work or traveling to and from work.

26 Jul 2004

New survey shows three out of four diets fail

"All diets, in their essence, will fail,” says Anne Mixon of the marketing research group NPD, who points to a new survey showing three out of four diets fail.

26 Jul 2004

Study to investigate carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel is a painful progressive condition caused by compression of a key nerve in the wrist. Approximately two out of every 1,000 workers will experience carpal tunnel syndrome every year, leading to significant medical expenditures and lost time from work.

26 Jul 2004

Surprising differences in the DNA of normal cells from different people

A new study by Michael Wigler’s group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has, in collaboration with researchers from Karolinska Institutet, revealed surprising differences in the DNA of normal cells from different people.

23 Jul 2004