Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Caprini Risk Model helps predict VTE risk in patients undergoing plastic surgery

Patients undergoing plastic or reconstructive surgery should receive a risk assessment before their procedure to predict whether they'll develop potentially fatal blood clots in the legs or lungs, according to research at the University of Michigan Medical School. Researchers also found that 1 in 9 patients at highest risk based on that assessment will develop clots if not given clot-preventing medications after surgery.

19 Nov 2010

Robot-assisted endoscope removes salivary stone, repairs duct

Dr. Rohan Walvekar, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Director of Clinical Research and the Salivary Endoscopy Service at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has reported the first use of a surgical robot guided by a miniature salivary endoscope to remove a 20mm salivary stone and repair the salivary duct of a 31-year-old patient.

19 Nov 2010

Weight loss surgery ‘sky rockets’ in Australia

According to a new survey nearly ten times more people are resorting to weight loss surgeries in Australia over the past 10 years. In Australia one in five adults are now classified as being obese and this trend shows that public health messages about diet and exercise are not working.

18 Nov 2010

Study reveals higher levels of body fat among South Asian children living in the UK

South Asian children living in the UK have higher average levels of body fat than white European and black African Caribbean children in the UK. The findings show that body mass index (BMI), the most widely used tool to measure body composition, underestimated their body fat, and add to doubts about its use as a measure.

18 Nov 2010

Colo. nurse practitioners struggle for recognition, reimbursement; Mass. struggles with health care access

The Denver Post: "When nurse practitioner Mary Lou Hendrix opened her own high-risk-pregnancy practice in Evergreen and Cherry Creek last spring after more than 25 years of providing such care in physicians' offices, she was well-prepared for the medical challenges she would face. But she was not ready for the still-unresolved nightmare of trying to get recognized and reimbursed by insurance companies.

18 Nov 2010

Study finds Hispanic children are susceptible to develop fatty liver disease

Two studies from the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have found evidence that Hispanic children and adolescents are genetically predisposed to developing fatty liver disease a condition that can lead to cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

18 Nov 2010

Obesity linked to heightened sense of smell for food

New research shows that obese and overweight people have a greater sense of smell for food. The study at the University of Portsmouth explains why some people struggle to stay slim. The researchers say that it is known that part of the brain that processes information about odour is also connected to the feeding centres of the brain. This study adds to the knowledge and is published in the journal Chemical Senses.

17 Nov 2010

Cholesterol-lowering statin therapy benefits patients with calcium buildup in arteries

Rolling back suggestions from previous studies, a Johns Hopkins study of 950 healthy men and women has shown that taking daily doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin medication to protect coronary arteries and ward off heart attack or stroke may not be needed for everyone.

17 Nov 2010

New cellular pathway could help develop therapeutic treatments for obesity-related disorders

Cardiac researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found a new cellular pathway that could help in developing therapeutic treatments for obesity-related disorders, like diabetes and heart disease.

17 Nov 2010

Garvan Institute professor receives 2010 Prime Minister's Prize for Science

Professor John Shine AO FAA, Executive Director of Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, received the 2010 Prime Minister's Prize for Science, the nation's most highly respected award for scientific achievement, in Parliament House tonight.

17 Nov 2010

Perivascular adipose tissue may lead to cardiovascular disease: Research

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that fat around the outside of arteries may lead to the development of cardiovascular disease and could be linked to its onset in individuals with diabetes.

17 Nov 2010

Alkermes's ALKS 33 drug candidate offers potential treatment for multiple disease indications

Alkermes, Inc. today announced the presentation of promising preclinical results for its proprietary opioid modulator, ALKS 33, showing the drug candidate's potential in multiple disease indications.

17 Nov 2010

JDRF, Amylin collaborate to support metreleptin study for type 1 diabetes

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they entered into a research collaboration agreement to provide financial support for a clinical proof-of-concept study to investigate the effects of metreleptin, an analog of the human hormone leptin, in patients with type 1 diabetes. Researchers at The University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center will conduct the study.

17 Nov 2010

Risk reduction of 20 ailments with regular exercise: Review

In a review article researchers have concluded that regular exercise cuts the risk of more than 20 illnesses. Some of these include colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and stroke said the study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

16 Nov 2010

Researchers discover circadian rhythms regulate fat metabolism

UC Irvine researchers have discovered that circadian rhythms the internal body clock regulate fat metabolism. This helps explain why people burn fat more efficiently at certain times of day and could lead to new pharmaceuticals for obesity, diabetes and energy-related illnesses.

16 Nov 2010

Inconsistent food labels contribute to consumer uncertainty about appropriate food intake

People are easily fooled when it comes to food labels, and will eat more of something if they believe it's a "small" portion, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

16 Nov 2010

Canadian government announces new research initiative on childhood obesity

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today announced new initiatives for research on physical activity and childhood obesity through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

16 Nov 2010

Reducing salt intake can enhance health of young adults in future: Research

Cutting back on salt in teenagers' diets by as little as one-half teaspoon, or three grams, a day, could reduce the number of young adults with high blood pressure by 44 to 63 percent, according to new research presented Sunday, Nov. 14 at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010 meeting in Chicago.

16 Nov 2010

Food, drugs of abuse engage same brain systems, show studies

New animal research helps explain why some eat without hunger or to excess. The studies explore the biological effects of poor eating habits, showing that high-fat diets cause lasting brain changes that may impair healthy eating. Additional studies show that food and drugs of abuse engage many of the same brain systems. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

16 Nov 2010

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Focusing on the disparities in the quality of health care across demographic groups, the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities brought together White House officials and national and local healthcare executives to address a series of key questions about non-medical determinants of health quality and to recommend strategies to bring more equitable healthcare access to the underserved. The determinants discussed at the four-day-long conference, which began November 10, 2010 and concluded Saturday, November 13, 2010, included education levels, health literacy, poverty, public safety, community design, access to care, environmental quality and personal, government and corporate responsibility.

15 Nov 2010