Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

FDA to reconsider diet drug that failed to get approval in 2010

Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will recommend whether the agency should approve the first new prescription diet pill in 13 years. The F.D.A. rejected the drug under review, Qnexa, in 2010, amid safety concerns, and the drug's manufacturer is now presenting additional data to argue its case.

18 Feb 2012

Votes expected today on 'doc fix' compromise bill

The legislation, which also extends a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits, is a rare sign of bipartisanship within the 112th Congress, though not everyone is happy with the deal.

18 Feb 2012

BYETTA-basal insulin combination therapy receives EMA CHMP positive opinion

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion in the European Union for the expanded use of BYETTA (exenatide twice-daily) as an add-on therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or Actos (pioglitazone), for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults who have not achieved adequate glycemic control with these agents.

17 Feb 2012

First Edition: February 17, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations include reports about the latest debate on the Obama administration's regulation to mandate free birth control for women.

17 Feb 2012

Dance against diabetes

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among people with diabetes. In a unique upbeat program, professor and nurse practitioner Terri Lipman, PhD, CRNP, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, encourages children to ward off diabetes and hip-hop their way to good health.

17 Feb 2012

IHP, PFCD organize expert roundtable on NCDs at New Delhi

India Health Progress (IHP) in association with Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today organized an expert roundtable on 'Non-Communicable Diseases Burden in India: Strategizing the Way Forward' at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.

17 Feb 2012

Young Canadians report higher levels of emotional and behavioural problems

Canadian girls report higher levels of emotional problems and lower levels of emotional well-being and life satisfaction, while boys tend to experience more behavioural problems and demonstrate less prosocial behavior, a new Queen's University-led national study of youth health behavior shows.

17 Feb 2012

Congress to vote on 10-month 'doc fix,' payroll tax deal

News outlets report that the legislation would include delaying the cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

17 Feb 2012

WHO should regulate alcohol consumption with legally binding convention, global health expert says

The "WHO should regulate alcohol at the global level, enforcing such regulations as a minimum drinking age, zero-tolerance drunken driving, and bans on unlimited drink specials," Devi Sridhar, a lecturer in global health politics at the University of Oxford, argues in a commentary published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, Scientific American reports.

17 Feb 2012

Longer looks: GOP contraceptive amendment could have wider effect; The love of caregiving

In their latest move in the battle over contraception coverage, top Republicans in Congress are going for broke: They're now pushing a bill that would allow employers and insurance companies to pick and choose which health benefits to provide based simply on executives' personal moral beliefs. ... Last week, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) offered a "conscience amendment," to the law, pitching it as a way to allay religious employers' qualms about providing birth control to their employees.

17 Feb 2012

Low choline intake increases risk of liver scarring in menopausal women with NAFLD

Menopausal women with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who don't consume enough of the essential nutrient choline appear to be at higher risk for liver scarring, according to research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

17 Feb 2012

State roundup: Settlements for mental health facilities lawsuits; Minn., Oregon insurers face scrutiny

But the survey underway in Prince George's County is intended to address a complex problem. Officials expect the data to give them a detailed look at the state of health and health care in the county, where conditions such as diabetes and heart disease are much more common than in the rest of the region and most of the state.

17 Feb 2012

Female dog owners more physically active during pregnancy

Collaborative research from the WALTHAM- Centre for Pet Nutrition and the University of Liverpool has shown that pregnant women who own dogs are more physically active than those who don't.

17 Feb 2012

Study finds increase in prevalence of hidden arsenic in organic foods

As people seek healthier dietary regimens they often turn to things labeled "organic." Lurking in the background, however, is an ingredient that may be a hidden source of arsenic-an element known to be both toxic and potentially carcinogenic.

17 Feb 2012

Injury Prevention in Active Youth

Over the past few decades there has been an increase in injury to youth participating in sport. The issue of youth sport injury has become a conundrum because if there is an increase in injury, then subsequently there is usually an increase in participation. With the insurgence of childhood obesity, youth participation in sporting activities has been encouraged.It has been proven that regularly scheduled physical activity is associated with health improvements and reduced incidence of disease.

16 Feb 2012

Women with cancer have worse health behaviors after mammography

A recent study conducted by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has found that female cancer survivors receiving screening mammography have "worse health behaviors" than women receiving mammography screening and who had never had cancer.

16 Feb 2012

Diet exerts a strong influence on heart health

Food is your friend and your biggest foe. A healthy diet sustains us, but a poor diet can raise blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels and weight and put you at risk for heart disease.

16 Feb 2012

New parent-training program effective in reducing risk of obesity in preschool Latino children

A UCLA study has found that a new parent-training program is effective in reducing the risk of low-income, preschool-age Latino children being overweight.

16 Feb 2012

Children still exposed to same level of ads for junk foods

Despite new regulations restricting UK TV advertisements for food, children are still exposed to the same level of advertising for junk foods which are high in fat, salt and sugar, researchers have found.

16 Feb 2012

Direct link between short telomere length, heart attack and early death

Every cell in the body has chromosomes with so-called telomeres, which are shortened over time and also through lifestyle choices such as smoking and obesity. Researchers have long speculated that the shortening of telomeres increases the risk of heart attack and early death. Now a large-scale population study in Denmark involving nearly 20,000 people shows that there is in fact a direct link, and has also given physicians a future way to test the actual cellular health of a person.

16 Feb 2012