Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Strawberries for prevention of esophageal cancer: Study

According to a preliminary study released Wednesday, strawberries have the potential to prevent esophageal cancer. Researchers, led by Ohio State University have shown that freeze-dried strawberries slowed the growth of dysplastic, or precancerous, lesions in about 30 people who consumed the fruit for six months. Study's lead researcher, Tong Chen, an assistant professor in the oncology division of Ohio State University, presented the study at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting.

6 Apr 2011

Childhood obesity: Positive & negative trends

According to the latest study, fewer Australian pre-schoolers are overweight in recent years compared with the late-1990s and also the social disparities in children's obesity risk seem to be shrinking. These findings were reported in the International Journal of Obesity.

6 Apr 2011

Chemical senses scientists to hold 33rd annual meeting, April 13-17, 2011

The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS), a US-based scientific organization, is holding its 33rd annual meeting. About 700 scientists are gathering to present new information on the role of smell and taste in disease, nutrition, and social interactions in humans as well as animals. Smell and taste play essential roles in our daily lives.

6 Apr 2011

First-of-its-kind map of recombination hotspots in a multi-celled organism

Researchers have zoomed in on mouse chromosomes to map hotspots of genetic recombination - sites where DNA breaks and reforms to shuffle genes. The findings of the scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USU) have the potential to improve the detection of genes linked to disease and to help understand the root causes of genetic abnormalities.

6 Apr 2011

AMPK suppression and SREBP activation are root cause of fatty liver and hyperlipidemia in type 2 diabetes

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, including Yu Li, PhD, and other colleagues, have demonstrated that a nutrient sensing pathway is involved in the disruption of cellular lipid homeostasis in obese and insulin resistant mice fed a diet high in fat and sucrose.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists identify biological pathways that mediate IgA nephropathy

For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide - systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it.

6 Apr 2011

Adipocytes associated with breast cancer could amplify 'aggressive' effect of tumors in obese patients

Apart from its direct effect on health (such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes), obesity is increasingly suspected of playing a role in the prognosis of breast cancer and, in particular, its propensity to spread. However, no direct cause and effect relationship had been demonstrated until now. This breakthrough has finally been made through the collaborative work of two teams of researchers from Inserm, CNRS and the Université Paul Sabatier.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists uncover SREBP-2 role in autophagy and cholesterol generation

Not all cholesterol is bad. Every cell requires it for growth - they either have to get cholesterol somewhere or they die. In a new study published April 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and their collaborators found that a protein sensor known to balance cholesterol sources can also access a previously underappreciated cellular fat storage depot.

6 Apr 2011

Sleep apnea people may face risk of suffering ischemic stroke

According to research presented at the School of Medicine and the University of Navarra Hospital by Dr. Roberto Muñoz, a physician of the Neurology Service of the Hospital Complex of Navarra, those persons with serious cases of sleep apnea have more than twice the possibility of suffering an ischemic stroke. Specifically, 2.5 times more.

6 Apr 2011

New risk calculator predicts risk of postoperative complications for bariatric surgery patients

A new risk calculator can predict the risk of postoperative complications occurring for individual bariatric surgery patients, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The risk calculator will help in surgical decision-making and will help patients better understand what they can expect during recovery in order to prepare for a bariatric operation.

5 Apr 2011

Metformin therapy may protect PCOS women against endometrial cancer

Research led by Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick has found that Metformin, a drug treatment used to treat diabetes and also in women with Polycystic vary syndrome, may potentially provide protection against endometrial cancer.

5 Apr 2011

Jennerex, Transgene present JX-594 Phase 1 and 2 study data in liver cancer at EASL meeting

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, and Transgene,a bio-pharmaceutical company specialized in the development of immunotherapeutic products, today announced that new data from Phase 1 and 2 clinical studies of JX-594 were presented in an oral presentation at the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver over the weekend at the Internationales Congress Centrum in Berlin, Germany.

5 Apr 2011

Food addicts appear to have high neural activity in brain

Persons with an addictive-like eating behavior appear to have greater neural activity in certain regions of the brain similar to substance dependence, including elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Apr 2011

Vitamin D can reduce estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

In mice models of breast cancer, researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, found that vitamin D significantly reduced development of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer both in lean and obese mice, but had no beneficial effect in estrogen receptor-negative cancer.

5 Apr 2011

Diets may cause loss of lean muscle mass

According to boomer-generation brother and sister authors Dian Griesel, Ph.D. and Tom Griesel, every well-known diet to date is destined to deliver loss of lean muscle mass, moodiness, disappointment and failure.

5 Apr 2011

Breast cancer updates

According to the latest research human breast milk holds the potential to assess a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

5 Apr 2011

State Roundup: Budget cuts in Texas, Wash. State; Ariz. smoking, weight fees; Coping with Rx drug abuse

The Texas House voted 98-49 Sunday night to slash funding for public schools, nursing homes and college financial aid in a dramatic show by Republicans elected on a limited-government message in the face of a massive budget shortfall.

4 Apr 2011

Study finds link between smoking and breast cancer risk among non-obese women

Smoking increases the risk of breast cancer, but the risk differs by obesity status in postmenopausal women, according to data from an analysis of the Women's Health Initiative observational study.

4 Apr 2011

FDA releases rules for restaurants to provide calorie information

The federal government on Friday released proposed rules requiring chain restaurants and other businesses that serve food to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards. But after objections from theater chains, the rules give a pass to those box-office snacks — even though a large popcorn and soda can contain as many calories as a typical person needs in a day.

4 Apr 2011

Scientists confirm metabolic syndrome may raise risk of liver cancer

Scientists have confirmed that metabolic syndrome, a constellation of conditions that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, may also increase the risk of the two most common types of liver cancer, according to data presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.

4 Apr 2011