Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

In this Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll write: "By some accounts, the Republican takeover of the House is a game changer for health reform. Already, it has reinvigorated debate over the law, and the media have focused on what federal legislators can or will do to alter it. But more attention should be directed elsewhere. The future trajectory of health reform will be shaped far more by interest group agendas and state-level actions than by the new House leadership's stated plans. Not only has the game changed, but so have the most important players" (12/9).

9 Dec 2010

Divorce: men get fitter women fatter!

Divorce is a stressful experience but according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, it can do good to men’s fitness. Women, on the other hand, are likely to become less healthy.

9 Dec 2010

Expert discusses androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer

A common prostate cancer treatment, the ‘androgen deprivation therapy’ has often been prescribed for low-risk prostate cancer patients. This therapy for treating prostate cancer had previously been blamed for increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart conditions.

9 Dec 2010

Zealand receives EUR 500,000 milestone payment from Helsinn Healthcare for ZP1846 development program

Zealand Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative peptide drugs that recently listed on NASDAQ OMX, today announces the receipt of a EUR 500,000 (DKK 3.73 million) milestone payment as part of its license agreement with Helsinn Healthcare for the development of ZP1846 for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhoea. This milestone payment has no impact on the Company's outlook for 2010.

9 Dec 2010

Insulin related calls to poison centers increase 279%

Annual calls to poison centers regarding insulin have skyrocketed by 279 percent over the past 10 years, according to a new study authored by medical professionals at four U.S. poison centers.

9 Dec 2010

Dietitians prefer olive oil as food oil of choice

A newly released survey of dietitians, which examines their current perspectives regarding various dietary fats and oils, reveals a strong preference for olive oil as the food oil of choice even for individuals on a diet. Canola oil was the second choice, while other oils—safflower, soybean, peanut, corn and flax—trailed far behind.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers find weak association between parent-child dietary intake

As primary caregivers, parents are often believed to have a strong influence on children's eating behaviors. However, previous findings on parent-child resemblance in dietary intakes are mixed. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reviewed and assessed the degree of association and similarity between children's and their parents' dietary intake based on worldwide studies published since 1980. The meta-analysis is featured in the December issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

9 Dec 2010

Annual survey ranks states on health, health care

An annual survey ranks state's overall health and gives snap shots of specific measures including crime, air pollution and smoking rates.

9 Dec 2010

Expert panel explores how to engage pediatricians, primary care physicians in preventing childhood obesity

As the prevalence of childhood obesity approaches epidemic levels, physicians on the "front line" need to become more involved in obesity prevention and weight management to reverse this dangerous trend among their young patients. But several obstacles discourage pediatricians and other primary care physicians from taking a more active role in managing childhood obesity.

9 Dec 2010

TOS, OAC call on FDA to address urgent need for obesity treatments

The Obesity Society (TOS) and the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) today called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider the urgent need for more tools to address the obesity epidemic facing more than 93 million Americans as they convene an advisory panel to review a new treatment for obesity.

8 Dec 2010

Video games effective in improving diet behaviors of children

Obesity in youngsters has risen dramatically in recent decades. Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and increased water intake can lower the risk of obesity, as can increased physical activity, but it is not always easy to convince children to eat better and exercise more. In a new study published in the January 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that video games designed to encourage these behaviors were effective.

8 Dec 2010

SEEK reports Phase I safety trail for investigational flu vaccine

SEEK, a leading UK privately-owned drug-discovery group, today presented data on the successful conclusion of a Phase I safety and tolerability study for its investigational Universal Influenza Vaccine, FLU-v, at the World Influenza Congress in Amsterdam (7-9 December).

8 Dec 2010

Study examines impact of poor care coordination on quality, cost of care in America

Many Americans seek medical treatment from a variety of care providers and often must play the role of informing each doctor what the others are recommending or prescribing. This fragmented experience of poorly coordinated care is due in part to a lack of consistent systems and processes in place to coordinate care across providers and facilities.

8 Dec 2010

FDA advisory committee's approval of Contrave for obesity encourages OAC, TOS, ASMBS

The Obesity Action Coalition, The Obesity Society and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery found encouragement in the outcome of today's advisory committee hearing, favoring approval for the first new obesity treatment in more than 10 years.

8 Dec 2010

Children's Hospital LA investigators elected into the Society for Pediatric Research

Three investigators from The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have been elected into the prestigious Society for Pediatric Research. Their election to this Society represents peer recognition of their research achievements in pediatrics.

8 Dec 2010

FDA Advisory Committee votes in favor of Orexigen's Contrave for treatment of obesity

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13 to 7 that the available data adequately demonstrate that the potential benefits of Contrave® (naltrexone sustained release (SR)/bupropion SR) outweigh the potential risks when used long-term in a population of overweight and obese individuals and support approval.

8 Dec 2010

NIH awards Scripps Research $2.35M to study new treatment for obesity

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a $2.35 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a new way of treating obesity as part of a national consortium with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

8 Dec 2010

New sensitive blood test could determine unrecognized heart disease

A more sensitive version of a blood test typically used to confirm that someone is having a heart attack could indicate whether a seemingly healthy, middle-aged person has unrecognized heart disease and an increased risk of dying, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

7 Dec 2010

Contrave, new weight loss pill gets FDA panel nod

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel yesterday recommended the approval of Orexigen Therapeutics’ weight loss drug Contrave. This is the first time a weight loss drug has received the nod. The vote went 13 to 7 for Contrave’s approval and 11 to 8, with an abstention that additional studies be conducted on heart risks. Although experts agree to risks they believe the benefits outweigh the risks. Although the FDA is not compelled to go with the panel’s recommendation, it more often than not does. The FDA will deliver its verdict by Jan. 31 2011.

7 Dec 2010

32% of UAE residents could have diabetes or prediabetes by 2020

One in three United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents could have diabetes or prediabetes by the end of the decade, according to a new analysis from international health and well-being company UnitedHealth Group, released today at the World Health Care Congress Middle East meeting in Abu Dhabi.

7 Dec 2010