Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Obese people already drink diet soda, so soda tax won't help

To many, a tax on soda is a no-brainer in advancing the nation's war on obesity. Advocates point to a number of studies in recent years that conclude that sugary drinks have a lot to do with why Americans are getting fatter.

29 Jun 2011

Nimbus Discovery closes $24 million Series A financing

Nimbus Discovery LLC, a biopharmaceutical company using state-of-the-art computational technology to discover novel medicines against exciting but previously inaccessible disease targets, today announced the close of a $24M Series A financing.

28 Jun 2011

EAS, ESC develop new European guidelines to manage dyslipidaemias

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), driven by the global pandemics of obesity and diabetes, poses a daunting challenge to clinicians in the 21st century. Despite progress, there is still much to be done to improve the control of dyslipidaemia, a key risk factor.

28 Jun 2011

Australian Medical Association calls for ban on junk food ads aimed at kids

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called on the federal government to ban fast food ads to help solve the problem of childhood obesity in Australia.

28 Jun 2011

Number of adults with diabetes doubled over past three decades, study shows

The number of adults with type 2 diabetes has doubled worldwide over the last three decades, rising from 153 million in 1980 to 347 million, "a sign that the epidemic will impose an ever-greater cost burden on health systems," according to a study published on Saturday in the Lancet, the Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Jun 2011

Accelerated hepatitis B vaccination schedule effective for high-risk pregnant women

UT Southwestern Medical Center maternal-fetal specialists have confirmed a potential new protocol to protect pregnant women who are at risk for hepatitis B, a health problem that affects 2 billion people worldwide.

28 Jun 2011

Very low calorie diet can reverse type 2 diabetes: Study

According to scientists people who have had obesity-related type 2 diabetes for years have been cured, at least temporarily, by keeping to an extreme, low-calorie, diet for two months. The researchers from Newcastle University, overturns previous assumptions about type 2 diabetes, which was thought to be a lifelong illness.

27 Jun 2011

Diabetes numbers on the rise: Experts worried

According a new international study more than 350 million in the world now have diabetes. The analysis, published online by the Lancet on Saturday, adds several tens of millions to the previous estimate of the number of diabetics and indicates that the disease has become a major global health problem.

27 Jun 2011

Lean gene and heart disease risk

According to a new study published Sunday, being lean may not always lead to a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes. The researchers have successfully identified a gene linked both to having a lean body and to a higher risk of metabolic diseases.

27 Jun 2011

Eating more soluble fiber and engagement in moderate activity reduces belly fat

All fat is not created equal. Unsightly as it is, subcutaneous fat, the fat right under the skin, is not as dangerous to overall health as visceral fat, the fat deep in the belly surrounding vital organs.

27 Jun 2011

Omeros identifies compounds that interact with orphan GPCRs associated with leukemia

Omeros Corporation today reported that it has identified compounds that interact with orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) P2Y8 and OPN4. P2Y8 (also known as P2RY8) is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells.

27 Jun 2011

NovaSom completes $35M equity financing led by Safeguard Scientifics

NovaSom, Inc., the market leader in technology-driven, payer-aligned cost-saving solutions for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) management, today announced it has closed $35 million in equity financing.

27 Jun 2011

Former U.S. Surgeon General calls for intensive effort to promote child health

David Satcher, MD, PhD, former U.S. Surgeon General, describes childhood obesity as "one of the greatest threats to child and adult health that we are facing today," calling for an intensive effort to promote child health, in an editorial in the June issue of Childhood Obesity, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The editorial is available online.

27 Jun 2011

Mayo Clinic to create artificial pancreas for treating type 1 diabetes

The 25.8 million Americans who have diabetes may soon be free of finger pricks and daily insulin dosing. Mayo Clinic endocrinologists Yogish Kudva, M.B.B.S., and Ananda Basu, M.B.B.S., M.D., are developing an artificial pancreas that will deliver insulin automatically and with an individualized precision never before possible.

27 Jun 2011

Mortality, morbidity rates linked with AF remain 'unacceptably high' despite new treatments

Despite recent advances in the treatment of heart rhythm disturbances, mortality and morbidity rates associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) remain "unacceptably high", according to a new report.

27 Jun 2011

UVA to study how the 'Call to Health' model helps African-American women manage diabetes

The University of Virginia Health System has received a $300,000 grant to study the "Call to Health" model, which uses text messages, stress reduction and other techniques to help African-American women manage type 2 diabetes.

27 Jun 2011

Young adults with juvenile diabetes may face risk of heart attack and stroke

New research shows that adolescents and young adults with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes have thicker and stiffer carotid arteries, also known as atherosclerosis, a risk factor for heart attack and stroke in adults.

27 Jun 2011

Diabetic patients can benefit from basal insulin analogs

Basal insulin analogs have revolutionized diabetes care, and especially the treatment of type 2 diabetes, enabling patients to achieve better control of blood glucose levels while reducing hypoglycemic episodes.

27 Jun 2011

New data from Zafgen's ZGN-433 Phase 1b study on obesity presented at ADA 2011

Zafgen, Inc., a pharmaceutical company pioneering novel obesity therapeutics to help the body regain and sustain a lean, healthy state by targeting imbalances in fat metabolism, today announced new data from a Phase 1b study of ZGN-433, a selective methionine aminopeptidase 2 inhibitor (MetAP2), which showed a significant improvement in cardiovascular risk markers in severely obese subjects.

27 Jun 2011

As States approach new budget years, many will be cutting Medicaid

States have taken a variety of trims, from stopping payments for circumcisions in Colorado to reducing payments for rehabilitation services in Kansas to increased co-payments in California.

24 Jun 2011