Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

ASMBS, SRC announce new 5-year agreement for Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence program

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Surgical Review Corporation today announced a new five-year agreement for SRC's continued administration of the ASMBS Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence program. The contract extends the original charter established when the ASMBS founded SRC in 2003 as an independent nonprofit to develop and manage the program.

12 Aug 2010

WCRF statistics: Breast cancer rates are higher in the UK

Breast cancer rates are more than four times higher in the UK than they are in eastern Africa, figures show. Statistics published by the World Cancer Research Fund show that 87.9 per 100,000 women in the UK were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, compared to just 19.3 per 100,000 in eastern Africa.

11 Aug 2010

Researchers receive $1M grant to train Native American communities improve their health

UC Davis School of Medicine researchers will train Native American communities in Northern California to develop and implement culturally appropriate interventions to improve their health by decreasing obesity and type-2 diabetes, through a $1 million research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2010

Entelos receives patent for PhysioLab virtual patient technology

Entelos, Inc. today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 7,774,182, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Validating a Computer Model." This patent was issued to Entelos for its invention of an innovative computer-implemented method for validating multiple virtual patients within a computer model. The PhysioLab virtual patient technology allows Entelos life scientists and engineers to more rapidly evaluate the safety and efficacy of new therapeutics in a diverse population of patients. This predictive power is integrated into our PhysioLab platforms, which have been used by our pharmaceutical and consumer product customers for over a decade to dramatically reduce the risk, time, and cost of product development.

11 Aug 2010

Cord Blood America to begin sale of DNA Predisposition testing services

Cord Blood America, Inc., the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells, a biological insurance policy, to families nationwide and internationally, today announced that within 90 days it will begin selling DNA Predisposition testing services in conjunction with The DNA Shop, LLC,Henderson, Nevada.

11 Aug 2010

Arrowhead Research signs option agreement for new technology platform to kill fat tissue

Arrowhead Research Corporation today announced that it has signed an option agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to negotiate a license in a defined field to a class of compounds that is believed to kill fat tissue by specifically targeting the blood vessels that supply it. The technology was developed in the laboratory of Drs. Renata Pasqualini and Wadih Arap at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas.

10 Aug 2010

Vanguard Management, Go Healthy announce consulting, management and distribution agreement

Vanguard Management Corp (a business unit of Vanguard Minerals Corp) announced that the company has signed a comprehensive consulting, management and distribution agreement with Go Healthy, Inc, a marketer of innovative nutrition products, namely Cholesterade.

10 Aug 2010

Texas Children's Hospital provides tips to ensure healthy and successful school year

It's August and for many families that means it's time to head back to school. From sleep schedules, nutrition, immunizations, heart health, heat illnesses and more, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston provides parents with tips to ensure their children have a safe, healthy and successful school year.

10 Aug 2010

ADA updates position paper on children’s healthy behaviors

The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper on local support for nutrition integrity in schools that calls on schools and communities to work together to provide healthful and affordable meals for all children and to promote educational environments that help students learn and practice healthy behaviors for their entire lives.

10 Aug 2010

Endo to acquire Penwest for $5.00 per share

Endo Pharmaceuticals today announced actions designed to advance the company's leadership and growth in pain management, including an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Penwest Pharmaceuticals for $5.00 in cash per share, or an estimated enterprise value of approximately $144 million at the time of deal close. Penwest has been working with Endo since 1997 on the development and commercialization of OPANA® ER and receives a royalty stream on net sales of the product.

10 Aug 2010

Sleeve gastrectomy for weight loss surgery with no scars

Surgeons at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have achieved what is believed to be the nation's first stomach reduction via the mouth. The novel weight loss procedure, known as a sleeve gastrectomy, reduces the stomach to 20 percent of its original size. The smaller stomach leads to less caloric intake and increased feelings of fullness. This is the first time in the U.S. that the excess stomach has been removed through the mouth rather than a large open incision.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists suggest daily intake of vitamin D helps to reduce disease frequency

Anthony Norman, a leading international expert in vitamin D, proposes worldwide policy changes regarding people's vitamin D daily intake amount in order to maximize the vitamin's contribution to reducing the frequency of many diseases, including childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness.

10 Aug 2010

Isis second-quarter pro forma net operating loss increases to $15.5 million

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. The Company finished the second quarter of 2010 with a pro forma net operating loss (NOL) of $15.5 million and $17.1 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, compared to a pro forma net operating loss of $1.3 million and pro forma net operating income of $798,000 for the same periods of 2009.

9 Aug 2010

BioVentrix announces First-in-Man milestone for PliCath heart failure system

BioVentrix, developer of the PliCath HF™ System for use in Epicardial Catheter-based Ventricular Reconstruction (ECVR), today announced achievement of its First-in-Man milestone, performed on a 52-year-old male heart failure patient in Krakow, Poland. The PliCath HF System is designed to treat heart failure (HF) by reducing the enlarged Left Ventricle (LV) through an anchoring system that is delivered across the cardiac chambers with the use of a catheter.

9 Aug 2010

AOBO to launch Yin Yang balancing medication Pai Du Qing Zhi Tablet

American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc., a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving health through the development, manufacture and commercialization of a broad range of prescription and over the counter products, today announced that its Boke brand Pai Du Qing Zhi Tablet, a prescription medicine aimed at achieving the balance of Yin Yang by regulating metabolism, in order to cleanse the blood and detoxify, dispose of hemorrhoids, fight obesity and lower hyperlipemia, will be commercially launched in the third quarter of 2010.

9 Aug 2010

Dr. Nadeau receives NIH Director's Pioneer Award to investigate transgenerational genetic effects

Noted geneticist, Joseph Nadeau, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has received a 2010 National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award.

8 Aug 2010

BRAX Fundraising, NFL encourage schools to participate in Back to Football Friday Contest

BRAX Fundraising, an official licensee of the National Football League, has teamed up with the NFL to present the Back to Football Friday Contest. The contest encourages elementary and middle schools across the country to celebrate their favorite NFL teams on Friday, September 10, for a chance to win one of thirty-four $10,000 NFL PLAY 60 health and wellness grants, and a visit from an NFL player.

7 Aug 2010

Researchers examine differences in eating habits of African Americans

Researchers looking for differences in eating habits of African Americans based on whether or not they had Type 2 diabetes uncovered an unexpected result: No matter what the blood sugar level was, the dietary intakes were pretty much the same.

7 Aug 2010

ADA commends U.S. Senate on reauthorization of child nutrition programs

The American Dietetic Association commends the U.S. Senate for its bipartisan action Thursday, August 5, to reauthorize the nation's crucial child nutrition programs. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 covers programs reaching millions of children that were scheduled expire September 30.

7 Aug 2010

Orexigen second-quarter net loss decreases to $11.9 million

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity, today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2010. For the quarter ended June 30, 2010, Orexigen reported a net loss of $11.9 million, or $0.25 per share attributable to common stockholders, as compared to a net loss of $17.8 million, or $0.51 per share attributable to common stockholders, for the second quarter of 2009.

7 Aug 2010