Obesity

Obesity traditionally has been defined as a weight at least 20% above the weight corresponding to the lowest death rate for individuals of a specific height, gender, and age (ideal weight). Twenty to forty percent over ideal weight is considered mildly obese; 40–100% over ideal weight is considered moderately obese; and 100% over ideal weight is considered severely, or morbidly, obese.


Brain senses fatty food
In the battle against obesity, Yale University researchers may have discovered a new weapon - a naturally occurring molecule secreted by the gut that makes rats and mice less hungry after fatty meals.

Weight loss maintenance through telephone is effective
Face-to-face and telephone follow-up sessions appear to be more effective in the maintenance of weight loss for women from rural communities compared with weight loss education alone, according to a report in the November 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Ban on fast food TV advertising may reverse childhood obesity trends
A ban on fast food advertisements in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18 percent, according to a new study being published this month in the Journal of Law and Economics.

Birth defects rate high in infants born with assisted reproductive technology
Infants conceived with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) are two to four times more likely to have certain types of birth defects than children conceived naturally, according to a study by the CDC.

Increase in waist circumference increases mortality risk
Having a large waistline can almost double your risk of dying prematurely even if your body mass index is within the 'normal' range, revealed by researchers in a new study.

Factors identified causing barriers to asthma care
Barriers to managing asthma include access to appropriate care, patient adherence, distrust of the medical profession, delayed asthma diagnosis, culture, lifestyle choices and genetic discrepancies according to experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Seattle.

Cost of diabetes treatment doubled in US
Because of the increased number of patients, growing reliance on multiple medications and the shift toward more expensive new medicines, the annual cost of diabetes drugs nearly doubled in only six years, rising from $6.7 billion in 2001 to $12.5 billion in 2007 according to a study in the Oct. 27, 2008, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Purple, high anthocyanin tomatoes offer protection against certain cancers
Scientists have expressed genes from snapdragon in tomatoes to grow purple tomatoes high in health-protecting anthocyanins.

Acomplia rimonabant obesity drug withdrawn
Sanofi-aventis announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has recommended to the European Commission (EC) the temporary suspension of the marketing authorisation of Acomplia(R) (rimonabant) for the approved indication of overweight and obese patients.

Depressed pregnant women may have preterm delivery
Depressed pregnant women have twice the risk of preterm delivery than pregnant women with no symptoms of depression, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

Eating fast may make you overweight and obese
The combination of eating quickly and eating until full trebles the risk of being overweight, according to a study published on bmj.com - site of British Medical Journal, UK.

Gut bacteria helps control body weight and obesity
A single molecule in the intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether the host animals are lean or fatty, a research team, including scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center, has found in a mouse study.

Parents believe their children are in average weight range
More than four in 10 parents with underweight and overweight children mistakenly believe their children are in the average weight range, according to University of Melbourne research.

Genes, lower reward response linked to weight gain, obesity
The brains of obese people seem to respond to a tasty treat with less vigor than the brains of their leaner peers, suggesting obese people may overeat to compensate for a reduced reward response, according to a new brain imaging and genetics study conducted by researchers at Yale University, The John B. Pierce Laboratory, the University of Texas and Oregon Research Institute.

Reading can help obese kids lose weight
It's no secret that reading is beneficial. But can it help kids lose weight? In the first study to look at the impact of literature on obese adolescents, researchers at Duke Children's Hospital discovered that reading the right type of novel may make a difference.

$19 Million to M. D. Anderson for breast cancer research
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has received nearly $19 million in grants from Susan G. Komen for the Cure® as part of that organization's new initiative to fast-track promising research to benefit breast cancer patients.

Taranabant for obesity discontinued by Merck
Merck & Co., Inc. will not seek regulatory approval for taranabant, an investigational medicine, to treat obesity and is discontinuing its Phase III clinical development program for taranabant for obesity.

Brain pathway responsible for obesity discovered
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight.

Colon cancer's genetic link to obesity
A new study reveals the first-ever genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk, a finding that could lead to greater accuracy in testing for the disease, said a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Miscarriage risk high in obese pregnant women
Overweight women with a tendency towards obesity run a greater risk of repeat miscarriages and should be advised to lose weight before they try and become pregnant again, revealed by researchers at London's St Mary's Hospital.

Suppressing hunger hormone ghrelin as good as bariatric surgery
Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach.

Poor weight loss in some after gastric bypass surgery
Individuals with diabetes and those whose stomach pouches are larger appear less likely to successfully lose weight after gastric bypass surgery, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Exercise reduces obesity risk in genetically predisposed
Individuals who have a genetic mutation associated with high body mass index (BMI) may be able to offset their increased risk for obesity through physical activity, according to a report in the September 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Poor coordination in childhood linked to obesity in later life
Poor physical control and coordination in childhood are linked to an increased risk of obesity in later life, suggests a study published on BMJ.com today.

Some obese individuals appear healthy without heart risk
Some obese individuals do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks, according to two reports in the August 11/25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

PSA screening awareness needed among high-risk groups
In one of the first examinations of PSA screening in younger men, a study published by researchers at Duke Medicine's Prostate Center finds that one-fifth of men under age 50 reported undergoing a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test to detect prostate cancer in the previous year, yet only one in three young black men reported ever having a PSA test in the previous year.

Lower cholesterol early in life
With heart disease maintaining top billing as the leading cause of death in the United States, a team of University of California, San Diego School of Medicine physician-researchers is proposing that aggressive intervention to lower cholesterol levels as early as childhood is the best approach available today to reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease.

Parents will be told if their children are overweight
In UK, from September this year, parents of children who have been weighed and measured at school could automatically receive their child's results in a bid to get parents to be more aware about healthy lifestyles, and help their children achieve a healthy weight.

Drug identified to enhance exercise endurance, mimic exercise effects
Researchers have identified drugs that mimic many of the physiological effects of exercise. The drugs increase the ability of cells to burn fat and are the first compounds that have been shown to enhance exercise endurance.

California Governor Schwarzenegger signed Trans Fat Bill
California Governor signed AB 97 by Asm. Mendoza, which will phase out the use of trans fats in all CA restaurants beginning in 2010. Scientific evidence demonstrates a strong association between the consumption of artificial trans fat and the development of coronary heart disease and stroke.

Children's food products provide poor nutritional quality
Nine out of ten regular food items aimed specifically at children have a poor nutritional content – because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium - according to a detailed study of 367 products published in the July issue of the UK-based journal Obesity Reviews.

Keeping a food diary doubles weight loss
Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Rimonabant guidance for overweight and obese patients
The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published final guidance on the use of rimonabant for the treatment of overweight and obese patients.

Weight loss bariatric surgery can cut cancer risk
The latest study by Dr. Nicolas Christou of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University shows that Weight loss bariatric surgery decreases the risk of developing cancer by up to 80 percent.

Reduce weight with high carb and protein breakfast
Researchers revealed a possible way to overcome the common problem of dieters eventually abandoning their diet and regaining the weight they lost. Eat a big breakfast packed with carbohydrates ("carbs") and protein, then follow a low-carb, low-calorie diet the rest of the day.

Depression risk high in treated diabetes patients
Persons with treated type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for developing depression, while a more modest association was found between persons with depression and the risk of diabetes, revealed by researchers.

Second genetic link to obesity
A study of 90,000 people has uncovered new genetic variants that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. The variants act in addition to the recently described variants of the FTO gene: on average, adults carrying variants in both genes are 3.8 kg (or 8.5 lb) heavier.

Asthma in obese more severe
Obesity can worsen the impact of asthma and may also increase its severity, according to new University of Otago research.

Bitter melon for type 2 diabetes patients
Scientists have uncovered the therapeutic properties of bitter melon, a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine, that make it a powerful treatment for Type 2 diabetes.

Obesity in midlife increases dementia risk
People in their 40s with larger stomachs have a higher risk for dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a study published in the March 26, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

MRSA infection risk after facelift surgery
About one-half percent of patients undergoing facelift surgery at one outpatient surgical center between 2001 and 2007 developed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, according to a report in the March/April issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Overweight, obese women improve life with short exercise
Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

Sexual performance holds key to men's health
The Australian male pride in sexual performance may help the fight against increasing obesity. This will be one of the messages from internationally regarded expert on obesity, men's health and ageing Professor Gary Wittert at the University of Adelaide's free Public Seminar Series.

Weight loss counseling helps maintain weight loss
People who shed weight and want to keep it off might benefit from monthly personal contact interventions, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

Psychological distress linked to increased risk of stroke
Psychological distress, but not depression, may increase the risk of stroke, according to a study published in the March_4, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous studies have shown that stroke often leads to depression, but the evidence was mixed as to whether depression could lead to stroke.

Reducing television viewing lowers BMI and obesity
Using a monitoring device to reduce television viewing and computer use time by 50 percent over a two-year period appears to reduce calorie intake, sedentary behavior and body mass index in overweight children age 4 to 7, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Teens who eat breakfast daily eat healthier diets
University of Minnesota School of Public Health Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) researchers have found further evidence to support the importance of encouraging youth to eat breakfast regularly.

American adults may not get enough rest or sleep
About 10 percent of adults report not getting enough rest or sleep every day in the past month, according to a new four-state study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Bowel cancer rising in Australia, reports AIHW
A new Australian report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) presents a mixed bag on favourable and unfavourable trends in chronic diseases over time. The report, Indicators for chronic disease and their determinants, 2008, focuses on the 12 chronic conditions that represent a large burden of disease in Australia.

1 in 3 primary school children obese
Nearly one in three children in Year 6 of primary school is overweight or obese, according to a report out from The NHS Information Centre, UK.

The information provided on Health Newstrack is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.
We comply with the HONcode principles for trustworthy health information, verify here.
www.healthnewstrack.com - About us, Editorial team, Advertising, Jobs, Links, Privacy policy, Disclaimer, Feedback,
Site map, List health news, Health news organizations, Health news world, Accessibility, Glossary, Testimonials, Blog
Mobile/PDA Submit press release
© 2007-2008 HealthNewstrack.com
Track Health News Daily
3.81