Obesity
Obesity May Be Factor in Accelerated Type I Diabetes in Some Patients
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Obesity, long known as a cause of type 2 diabetes, may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes in some - but not all - groups of younger patients, according to research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and six clinical sites nationally.
“The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity may substantially account for the younger age at onset of type 1 diabetes observed in various populations,” said the research team, writing in the February issue of Diabetes Care.
New human virus linked to obesity in animals
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Researchers have identified a new human virus that increases fat deposits and, paradoxically, reduces triglyceride levels in animals, according to a report in the American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology.
These findings could have important clinical implications for understanding and preventing obesity in humans, the authors suggest.
Belgian military takes aim at obesity
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The Belgian military has launched a slimming campaign for its forces whose obesity rate has swollen to 14 percent.
Incentives to practise sport and an awareness campaign were among elements of the plan to trim an obesity rate above the overall national average of 12 percent.
U.S. health experts to review OTC weight-loss drug
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U.S. health experts on Monday will weigh what could become the first nonprescription weight-loss drug approved for use in the United States, where nearly two thirds of the population is overweight and obesity rates continue to rise.
The drug, GlaxoSmithKline’s low-dose version of Xenical, will come before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel for discussion about whether to allow over-the-counter sales.
Obesity in Middle Age Linked to Higher Risk of Hospitalization, Death
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Middle-age individuals without high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels but who are obese have an increased risk in older age for hospitalization or death from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, compared to individuals of normal weight, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA.
Obesity adversely affects a large array of health outcomes, including coronary heart disease (CHD), other cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes mellitus, according to background information in the article. Obesity is also associated with established cardiovascular risk factors, particularly diabetes and elevated levels of blood pressure and serum cholesterol. However, controversies persist as to whether excess weight has additional impact on CVD outcomes beyond its effects on established risk factors. Direct evidence on this issue is limited. In clinical settings, patients sometimes ask if they still need to control their weight if their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are not high. Therefore, in light of the worsening obesity epidemic, further research is warranted to examine whether obesity carries additional risks in the absence or presence of other major risk factors.
University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism
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As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.
The new University of Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center will explore the science behind weight gain and loss, through molecular-level research on how the body breaks down and uses food, and how metabolism varies among individuals.
Obesity linked to poor colon cancer survival
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People who are obese around the middle and are physically inactive have poor odds of survival after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, according to a new report.
“We have now shown that modifiable lifestyle factors that were known to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer can also reduce the mortality in cases diagnosed with the disease,” Dr. Andrew M. M. Haydon told Reuters Health. “This strengthens the argument supporting the public health message of ‘healthy living.’”
Aquaporin related to obesity
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Dr. Gema Fruhbeck, director of the Metabolic Research Laboratory of the University Hospital of the University of Navarra, has published a commentary in the latest issue of Nature. The article presents aquaporin as a new modulator of the biology of the adipocyte. It is a new concept concerning how the permeability of glycerol in fat cells is able to modulate the size of the adipocyte and, as a result, can contribute to the development of obesity.
Aquaporins are related to the transport of water through cell membranes, but only recently has they been linked to weight control and adiposity. There is a subfamily, the aquaglyceroporins, which transport water as well as smaller solutes, such as glycerol. It has been shown that if one eliminates the specific aquaporin of the adipose tissue, aquaporin-7, glycerol is no longer able to leave the fat cell and instead accumulates in the cell interior.
Kids of overweight mothers have higher obesity risk
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The children of mothers who are obese before pregnancy or who smoke during pregnancy, have a higher risk of becoming overweight at a very young age, a study in the journal Pediatrics reports. The condition can be perpetuated as the children get older.
“One of the questions we wanted to explore was whether the development of early childhood overweight was associated with maternal behaviors,” said Dr. Pamela J. Salsberry of Ohio State University in Columbus. “We were interested in how pre-pregnancy weight and smoking affect a child’s risk, but also in how the risk develops over time.”
Moderate drinkers show lower obesity risk
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People who have an alcoholic drink or two a day may have a lower risk of becoming obese than either teetotalers or heavy drinkers, a study published Monday suggests.
Researchers found that among more than 8,200 U.S. adults, those who said they enjoyed a drink every day were 54 percent less likely than non-drinkers to be obese. Similarly, those who drank a little more (two drinks per day) or a little less (a few drinks per week) had a lower risk of obesity than teetotalers did.
Obese and overweight refused joint operations
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A regional health authority in the UK will refuse to treat overweight people needing hip and knee replacements on the National Health Service.
The rationing of operations in east Suffolk will save £47.9m and has come about because of “pressing financial problems” in the region.
Obese workers passed over in hiring, promotions
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Overweight workers in Britain are discriminated against when applying for positions, passed over for promotions, and more likely to loose their jobs, a report said on Tuesday.
In a survey of more than 2,000 personnel officers by Personnel Today magazine, 93 percent said they would choose an applicant of “normal weight” over an obese applicant with the same experience and qualifications.
Diagnosing the Obese
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America’s obesity epidemic is doing more than increasing the prevalence of certain diseases - it’s also increasing the likelihood of misdiagnosis. That’s because traditional examination systems can’t accommodate patients of varying shapes and sizes. New technology is addressing the trend.
Many obese Americans are too large for most MRI machines – which are becoming an increasingly important tool for detecting breast cancer and other diseases. New open MRIs combine an opening that’s 70 centimeters wide with high field imaging that provide superior images from which to make a diagnosis. Open MRIs should help large patients and those who are claustrophobic.
Extreme obesity is associated with attempted suicides: results from a family study
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This study was conducted to explore the association between attempted suicides and body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) in a family sample of 2547 individuals. As a comparison, a national NESARC (the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions) sample of 41 589 individuals was included to validate the observed association.
Compared to average weight, extreme obesity showed significantly increased odds for attempted suicides both in family sample (odds ratio (OR)=3.37 and 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.59–7.13 for BMI=40–< 50 kg/m2; OR=3.85 and 95% CI=1.71–8.66 for BMI > 50 kg/m2) and in NESARC sample (OR=2.11 and 95% CI=1.59–2.81 for BMI=40–<50 >kg/m2; OR=2.56 and 95% CI=1.34–4.92 for BMI > 50 kg/m2) after adjustment for sociodemographic factors.
A comparison of national estimates of obesity prevalence from the behavioral risk factor surveillane
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Background: Obesity interventions are implemented at state or sub-state level in the United States (US), where only self-reported weight and height data for adults are available from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The prevalence estimates of overweight and obesity generated from self-reported weight and height from BRFSS are known to underestimate the true prevalence. However, whether this underestimation is consistent across different demographic groups has not been fully investigated.
Methods: In this study, we compared the prevalence estimates of obesity (body mass index (BMI) 30 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI 25 kg/m2) in different demographic groups in the US from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and BRFSS during 1999–2000. We also compared the rank orders of the obesity and overweight prevalence across different demographic groups from the two data sources.
