Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Smoke-free laws lead to fewer heart attacks

A recent decline in the incidence of myocardial infarction in Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA, could be due to the implementation of smoke-free laws, researchers suggest.

31 Oct 2012

Weight-management advice needed with cat neutering

Neutered status is one of the most significant factors for obesity in vet-visiting cats in the UK, report researchers, who suggest that weight-management measures should be targeted at owners when their pets are neutered.

31 Oct 2012

Hormone therapy increases risk of heart attack or dying in women with metabolic syndrome

A new analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trials show that women who had metabolic syndrome before they started hormone therapy had a greatly increased risk of heart attack or dying of heart disease. Women who didn't have metabolic syndrome beforehand showed no increased risk.

31 Oct 2012

Behavioural treatment can be very effective for severely obese children

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that behavioural treatment for inducing weight-loss can be very effective for severely obese children. However, the treatment to change dietary and exercise habits must be given in time, as it showed to have little effect on adolescents with the same problem.

31 Oct 2012

FDA accepts Sunovion’s two LATUDA sNDAs for review

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review two supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDAs) for the use of LATUDA as 1) monotherapy and 2) adjunctive therapy to lithium or valproate, both to treat adult patients with depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder (bipolar depression).

31 Oct 2012

Adolescent overweight and obesity may increase risk of all-cause ESRD

Being overweight and obese during adolescence appears related to an increased risk of all-cause treated end-stage renal disease (ESRD) during a 25-year period, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

30 Oct 2012

Study compares 'cardio-toxicity' of Toronto-area neighborhoods

Your chances of having a sudden cardiac arrest can depend on where you live, warned Dr. Paul Dorian today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012 in Toronto, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

30 Oct 2012

TTP488 slows cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's

A novel, orally administered drug candidate, TTP488, has demonstrated clinical evidence of slowing of cognitive decline over 18 months of therapy in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

30 Oct 2012

Nottingham experts identify risk factors associated with childhood obesity

High birth weight, rapid weight gain and having an overweight mother who smokes can all increase the risk of a baby becoming obese later in childhood, research by experts at The University of Nottingham has found.

30 Oct 2012

Ultra-high performance SPECT systems announced by MILabs

MILabs, B.V. the Netherlands‐based innovator and manufacturer of pre‐clinical SPECT/PET/CT imaging devices announces the release of the Plus! Systems: the U‐SPECT+ and U‐SPECT+ /CT.

29 Oct 2012

Maternal bariatric surgery affects cardiovascular risk profile of offsprings

Kids born to moms who have lost a substantial amount of weight after undergoing bariatric surgery have fewer cardiovascular risk factors than their siblings who were born before the weight loss surgery.

29 Oct 2012

Peer mentoring in schools can increase kids' physical activity levels

Using peer mentors to enhance school-day physical activity in elementary aged students has been given an A+ from Nova Scotia researchers.

29 Oct 2012

Data shows association between increased weight and breast cancer survival varies by race/ethnicity

An extreme body mass index or high waist-to-hip ratio, both measures of body fat, increased risk for mortality among patients with breast cancer, but this association varied by race/ethnicity, according to recently presented data.

29 Oct 2012

Neuraxial anesthesia should be promoted for bilateral total knee replacements: HSS

Using regional anesthesia rather than general anesthesia reduces the need for blood transfusions in patients undergoing bilateral total knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers investigate unique features of arcuate neurons in the hypothalamus

Maintaining a healthy body weight may be difficult for many people, but it's reassuring to know that our brains and bodies are wired to work together to do just that-in essence, to achieve a phenomenon known as energy balance, a tight matching between the number of calories consumed versus those expended. This careful balance results from a complex interchange of neurobiological crosstalk within regions of the brain's hypothalamus, and when this "conversation" goes awry, obesity or anorexia can result.

29 Oct 2012

New anti-thrombotic treatments in AF patients can reduce risk of stroke

Atrial fibrillation, whose prevalence continues to rise, was described last year as the "new epidemic" in cardiovascular disease, even though AF can be successfully controlled by the detection and management of risk factors, by rhythm control treatments, and by the use of antithrombotic therapies.

29 Oct 2012

Cardiac arrhythmias: latest developments in diagnosis and treatment

A new Lancet Series explores the latest developments in the diagnosis, treatment and biology of cardiac arrhythmias, ahead of the American Heart Association’s annual meeting taking place this year on Nov 3–7 in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

26 Oct 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare provider cuts 'won't work'; A 'pamphlet isn't a plan'

Once the presidential election is over, Congress will try to address the Medicare cost shortfall one way or another. They will almost certainly consider a method that is guaranteed to fail: Medicare rate cuts for doctors and hospitals. It's been tried before, most notably as part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Not once since the BBA required annual physician rate cuts have those cuts been implemented, leading every year to the predictable and depressing final-hours "doc fix" vote.

26 Oct 2012

ACS BSCN accredits UCSD Bariatric Metabolic Institute as Level 1 facility

The Bariatric Metabolic Institute (BMI) at University of California, San Diego Health System has been accredited as a Level 1 facility by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This designation means that the institutional performance of UC San Diego BMI meets the rigorous requirements outlined by the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program.

26 Oct 2012