Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Twins and mothers with poor nutrition more likely to develop obesity, type 2 diabetes

If you're expecting, this might make you feel a little better about reaching for that pint of ice cream: New research published online in the FASEB Journal suggests that twins, and babies of mothers who diet around the time of conception and in early pregnancy, may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives.

2 Apr 2012

Metformin prevents primary liver cancer in animal models

Metformin, a drug widely used to treat Type II diabetes, may help to prevent primary liver cancer, researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center report in the April 2012 issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

2 Apr 2012

Study shows how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes

In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a new therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and obesity-related metabolic diseases, the authors say.

2 Apr 2012

Obesity drugs need more heart safety scrutiny: FDA panel

According to federal advisors last Thursday, obesity drugs should undergo clinical trials to ensure that they do not cause heart attacks. This would make it harder for these drugs to receive approval.

1 Apr 2012

Modern delivery practices contribute to increase in labor duration

Women take longer to give birth today than did women 50 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 140,000 deliveries conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers could not identify all of the factors that accounted for the increase, but concluded that the change is likely due to changes in delivery room practice.

31 Mar 2012

Number of kidney cancer cases rises over 9,000 in Great Britain

The number of cases of kidney cancer diagnosed each year in Great Britain has risen over 9,000 for the first time, new figures from Cancer Research UK show today.

31 Mar 2012

Study shows how eating fast food is linked to increased risk of depression

A new study along the same lines as its predecessors shows how eating fast food is linked to a greater risk of suffering from depression. This study has been published in the Public Health Nutrition journal

31 Mar 2012

Disrupting mTORC1 protein complex extends lifespan

One of the secrets to a longer, healthier life is simply to eat less. When subjected to calorie restriction (CR), typically defined as a 20-40% reduction in caloric intake with corresponding maintenance of proper nutrition, animals in labs not only live longer, but also have improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, both of which decline during aging.

30 Mar 2012

Birth weight may identify future metabolic risks in girls

Heavier female babies are more likely to develop diabetes and related metabolic risks when they grow up compared with their male counterparts, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

30 Mar 2012

New synthetic small molecules could treat obesity, diabetes and sleep disorders

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the compounds' potential effectiveness in treating a remarkable range of disorders-including obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and serious sleep disorders.

30 Mar 2012

Researchers discover MicroRNAs as new switch of adipose cell development

Hunger has always threatened mankind. This makes it unsurprising that human bodies attempt to store all surplus nourishment in adipose tissue. In developed countries, this life-saving craving is turning into a problem and obesity—adiposity—is turning into a danger. Why, though, does excess fat the body ill? How does fat trigger diabetes? And can these superfluous fat reserves be turned into warmth and just as well burnt?

30 Mar 2012

Study explains how rapamycin also causes insulin resistance

A Penn- and MIT-led team explained how rapamycin, a drug that extends mouse lifespan, also causes insulin resistance. The researchers showed in an animal model that they could, in principle, separate the effects, which depend on inhibiting two protein complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, respectively.

30 Mar 2012

Green Coffee beans - the new weight loss formula

Green coffee beans could be the newest weight-loss fad as a new study finds that the bean extract may help people lose weight. When roasted at 475 degrees, coffee beans are sometimes described as rich and full-bodied. Before that they are termed green.

29 Mar 2012

Cancer death rates declining but obesity still needs to be tackled

According to a new report from four major national cancer tracking groups there has been a steady decline in cancer death rates for men, women and children from 2004 to 2008. The declines in death and new cases of cancer reflect progress against the disease in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment, but experts say rising obesity may present a new challenge in the fight against cancer.

29 Mar 2012

BMI not linked with either surgical complications or esophageal cancer patient survival

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found - contrary to previous studies linking inferior outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies to higher body mass index (BMI) - that in their study of BMI and negative outcomes, there was no such link. They concluded that BMI was not associated with either surgical complications or esophageal cancer patient survival.

29 Mar 2012

Ember adds Joslin's BMP7 technology to brown fat intellectual property portfolio

Ember Therapeutics, Inc., a company harnessing breakthroughs in brown fat biology and insulin sensitization to revolutionize the treatment of metabolic disease, today announced the completion of an agreement with the Joslin Diabetes Center to exclusively license intellectual property covering bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7), which has been shown to play a role in the regulation of brown fat development.

29 Mar 2012

BMI not associated with esophageal cancer patient survival

29 Mar 2012

SafeStitch Medical's AMID Stapler to be presented at AHS 2012

SafeStitch Medical, Inc. will present the AMID Stapler® at the 5th International Hernia Congress in New York City, March 28-31, 2012.

29 Mar 2012

Daiichi Sankyo, NGM to discover and develop new treatments for diabetes

Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd. and NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop novel therapeutics that modulate beta-cell regeneration for the treatment of diabetes.

29 Mar 2012

Obstacles standing in the way of cancer prevention

More than half of all cancer is preventable, and society has the knowledge to act on this information today, according to Washington University public health researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

29 Mar 2012