Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Childhood obesity can lead to spinal abnormalities

Being overweight as a child could lead to early degeneration in the spine, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1 Dec 2009

Clinical interventions may help cocaine abusers from using drugs and prevent relapse

When asked to inhibit their response to a "cocaine-cues" video, active cocaine abusers were, on average, able to suppress activity in brain regions linked to drug craving, according to a new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. The results, to be published in an upcoming issue of NeuroImage, suggest that clinical interventions designed to strengthen these inhibitory responses could help cocaine abusers stop using drugs and avoid relapse.

30 Nov 2009

Europe may offer lessons for health care rationing debate

Fears about rationing are a hot-button issue in the health care debate, but some health experts argue that the U.S. system already faces rationing. Others point out that the U.S. may look to Europe for examples of how private-market systems can cost less without raising concerns of rationing care.

30 Nov 2009

Centene announces new program to educate children on the importance of active and healthy lifestyle

Centene Corporation today announced the creation of a program called Kids' Club, aimed at educating its child members on a variety of health topics. Centene's health plans are reaching out directly to children with newsletters, contests and other innovative events, such as readings with the author of "The Adventures of Thumbs Up Johnnie(TM)."

30 Nov 2009

Study on deaths from cancer in Europe shows steady decline in mortality

New figures on deaths from cancer in Europe show a steady decline in mortality between the periods 1990-1994 and 2000-2004. Deaths from all cancers in the European Union (EU) between these two periods fell by nine percent in men and eight percent in women, with a large drop among the middle-aged population.

29 Nov 2009

Dr. Gail Harrison to receive the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award

A nutritionist whose research was instrumental in adding fruits and vegetables to the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food subsidy will receive the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievement in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.

27 Nov 2009

Researchers predict diabetes cases to double and cost to triple in the next 25 years

The diabetes population in the United States will almost double over the next 25 years and annual medical spending on the disease is projected to hit $336 billion, up from $113 billion today, according to a study published in the December issue of Diabetes Care. The National Changing Diabetes® Program (NCDP), a program of Novo Nordisk, commissioned the analysis by a team from the University of Chicago.

27 Nov 2009

Behavior problems in children with autism can be reduced with a training program for parents

The serious behavior problems that can occur in children with autism and related conditions can be reduced with a treatment plan that includes medication combined with a structured training program for parents, according to Yale University researchers and their colleagues.

26 Nov 2009

Study reveals that ghrelin can increase resistance to Parkinson's disease

Ghrelin, a hormone produced in the stomach, may be used to boost resistance to, or slow, the development of Parkinson's disease, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

25 Nov 2009

Health watch: When you eat just as vital to what you eat

When you eat may be just as vital to your health as what you eat, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their experiments in mice revealed that the daily waxing and waning of thousands of genes in the liver—the body's metabolic clearinghouse—is mostly controlled by food intake and not by the body's circadian clock as conventional wisdom had it.

25 Nov 2009

CXCL5 molecule causes insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obese people

Many people who are overweight or obese develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes at some stage in their lives. A European research team has now discovered that obese people have large amounts of the molecule CXCL5, produced by certain cells in fatty tissue.

25 Nov 2009

Comparison study finds no significant differences in post-transplant survival rates of NASH and ETOH groups

Researchers at the University of Miami School of Medicine compared the outcomes of cirrhotic patients who underwent liver transplants for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) versus alcoholic liver disease (ETOH) and found no statistically significant differences in post-transplant survival rates between the NASH and ETOH groups

25 Nov 2009

Obese, HIV patients do not respond to antiretroviral therapy, says new study

The immune systems of HIV patients who are obese don't respond to antiretroviral therapy as well as do those of people of normal weight, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). The findings were presented by San Diego-based Nancy Crum-Cianflone, MD at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

25 Nov 2009

Therapeutic agents in soy can treat colon cancer, says study

A study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland scientists identifies a new class of therapeutic agents found naturally in soy that can prevent and possibly treat colon cancer, the third most deadly form of cancer. Sphingadienes (SDs) are natural lipid molecules found in soy that research shows may be the key to fighting colon cancer.

24 Nov 2009

Medical advances abound while surgeons report concerns about medical errors

The Wall Street Journal reports on "20 health-care advances to give thanks for this Thanksgiving." Among the most key: "Life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, continuing a long upward trend. (That's 75.3 years for men and 80.4 years for women.) ... Death rates dropped significantly for eight of the 15 leading causes of death in the U.S., including cancer, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, accidents, diabetes, homicides and pneumonia, from 2006 to 2007."

24 Nov 2009

RESTAURANT SURVIVAL GUIDE in the EAT THIS, NOT THAT! book series released

The authors of the bestselling EAT THIS, NOT THAT! book series, with more than five million copies in print, today released the ultimate reference book for making the most effective food choices while dining at your favorite restaurants — EAT THIS, NOT THAT! RESTAURANT SURVIVAL GUIDE by David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding.

24 Nov 2009

Orexigen Therapeutics' committee grants an inducement stock option

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity, today announced that on November 18, 2009 the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors granted an inducement stock option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock to Preston Klassen, M.D., its newly appointed Head of the Global Contrave Program.

24 Nov 2009

Presence of increased body fat hinders the loss of body weight

The presence of increased body fat, and therefore higher levels of inflammatory substances in the blood, hinders the loss and maintenance of body weight; as shown by a research project of the University of Navarra conducted by Estíbaliz Goyenechea Soto, a scientist at the School of Pharmacy.

24 Nov 2009

New finding reveals Barrett's esophagus in asymptomatic women undergoing endoscopic screening

In the November issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), a study out of Stanford University found that Barrett's esophagus was detected in six percent of asymptomatic women undergoing endoscopic screening.

24 Nov 2009

New MEMS sensor may help clinicians distinguish stable and unstable plaque during cardiac emergencies

University of Sourthern California biomedical engineer and cardiologist Tzung "John" Hsiai hopes to develop a new tool to help clinicians distinguish cardiac emergencies requiring immediate surgery from chronic problems manageable with drugs and lifestyle change.

24 Nov 2009