Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Varying physical activity for optimal health benefits

How hard and for how long should you exercise in order to shed excess abdominal fat and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease?

10 Sep 2009

Risk of NAFLD lowers with routine physical activities

Researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia determined that patients with a sedentary lifestyle who engage in routine physical activities lower their risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

10 Sep 2009

Obesity experts call on policymakers to adopt obesity recommendations

The Obesity Society and other steering committee members of the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, and two former US Surgeons General, join together today to develop effective recommendations to urge policymakers to act on the inclusion of obesity as the largest and most urgent driving factor in healthcare reform.

10 Sep 2009

VIVUS' Phase 3 studies find Qnexa effective in tackling obesity

VIVUS, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVUS) today announced positive results from two final, phase 3 pivotal 56-week studies, EQUIP (OB-302) and CONQUER (OB-303), evaluating the safety and efficacy of Qnexa(TM), an investigational drug, in more than 3,750 patients across 93 sites. The EQUIP and CONQUER studies met all primary endpoints by demonstrating statistically significant weight loss with all three doses of Qnexa, as compared to placebo.

9 Sep 2009

Campaign launched to tackle childhood obesity

Urging children to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Everette James and Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak today helped to kick off the NFL Play 60 national youth health and fitness campaign.

9 Sep 2009

Study: Brain circuits may influence binge eating

Scientists led a rat to the fatty food, but they couldn't make it eat. Using an animal model of binge eating, University of Missouri researchers discovered that deactivating the basolateral amygdala, a brain region involved in regulating emotion, specifically blocked consumption of a fatty diet. Surprisingly, it had no effect on the rat wanting to look for the food repeatedly.

9 Sep 2009

FDA approves Salix' METOZOLV ODT for treating diabetic gastroparesis

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for METOZOLV™ ODT (metoclopramide HCl) 5mg and 10mg orally disintegrating tablets. METOZOLV ODT is indicated for the relief of symptoms in adults associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis and for the treatment of short-term therapy (4-12 weeks) for adults with symptomatic documented gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who fail to respond to conventional therapy1.

9 Sep 2009

Vangent forges alliance with MSM in Atlanta to provide job opportunities for MPH degree students

Vangent, Inc., a leading global provider of information management and strategic business process outsourcing solutions, announced it has partnered with the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta, GA to provide job opportunities for some of Morehouse's second year graduate students pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree.

9 Sep 2009

Lack of physical activity is linked to childhood obesity

It's the start of another school year and Canadian physiotherapists are taking this opportunity to talk tough about the epidemic of overweight and inactive children in this country. According to Statistics Canada about 25 percent of Canadian children are overweight. The Active Healthy Kids Canada 2009 Report Card found that only 13 percent of children and youth are getting the 90 minutes of physical activity recommended by Canada's Physical Activity Guide.

9 Sep 2009

PBS special report on health care reform

With President Obama scheduled to give a major address on healthcare to a joint session of Congress this Wednesday, the hallmark PBS programs NOW ON PBS, TAVIS SMILEY and NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT are collaborating to provide a timely and much-needed in-depth look at health care reform in America and the latest government proposals to address the issue.

9 Sep 2009

Nutrisystem D program helps overweight type 2 diabetic people lose weight

Results from a clinical study conducted at the Temple University School of Medicine and published today in the journal Postgraduate Medicine(1), show that a pre-packaged, portion controlled meal plan helped overweight individuals with type 2 diabetes lose significantly more weight and reduce their A1C test scores (a 90-day measure of blood sugar control) by almost a full point greater than those following a standard hospital-based diabetes support and education program, according to the findings.

9 Sep 2009

Obesity, alcohol and smoking linked to second breast cancer occurrence

It is well known that survivors of breast cancer have a much higher risk of developing a second breast cancer than women in the general population have of developing a first breast cancer. However, little is known about what lifestyle factors may make survivors more vulnerable to a second cancer.

9 Sep 2009

Web-based clinical support tool for gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients

Building on the success and popularity of REALIZE mySUCCESS(R) for REALIZE(TM) Band patients, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. announced today it will expand availability of the Web-based clinical support tool to gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients.

9 Sep 2009

Recipients of Charles C. Shepard Award announced

Jill Van Den Bos, a healthcare consultant in Milliman's Denver Health practice, and her colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been named recipients of the prestigious Charles C. Shepard Award.

8 Sep 2009

Valentx raises funds to develop less-invasive treatment for morbid obesity

ValenTx, Inc., announced today the closing of a $22 million Series B Preferred Stock financing. The round was led by SV Life Sciences and joined by Covidien Ventures, as well as all the Company’s existing venture capital investors: Sapient Capital, EDF Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Affinity Capital Partners, and TGap Ventures.

8 Sep 2009

New book on weight loss and fitness released

Modern American society is filled with easily accessible fatty foods, a growing obesity epidemic and a general lack of healthy living. In his new book, "Lose Weight, Feel Great: How I Lost Over 60lbs. with the Help of a Personal Trainer" (published by AuthorHouse), author Kevin Given tells of his personal struggles with obesity, how he lost over 60 pounds with the help of a personal trainer, and how others can change their lifestyles and bodies as well.

8 Sep 2009

Fourth-quarter and fiscal year end 2009 results announced by Palatin Technologies

Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PTN) today announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. For the year ended June 30, 2009, total revenues were $11.4 million, compared to $11.5 million for year ended June 30, 2008. Palatin's net loss for the year ended June 30, 2009 was $4.8 million, or $(0.06) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $14.4 million, or $(0.17) per basic and diluted share, for the year ended June 30, 2008.

8 Sep 2009

Rise in primary liver cancer cases attributed to increased alcohol consumption

Cases of primary liver cancer have tripled in the last 30 years according to statistics published today by Cancer Research UK.

7 Sep 2009

Practitioners struggle to effectively manage child obesity

New research, led by Dr Katrina Turner from the University's Department of Community Based Medicine, has assessed primary care practitioners' views and experiences of treating childhood obesity.

7 Sep 2009

Five Clinical Research Units established

With the establishment of five new Clinical Research Units the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) hopes to give a further boost to clinical research in Germany and drive progress in the scientific investigation and possibilities for the treatment of disease.

7 Sep 2009