Weight Management

A recent study suggests that obese people with metabolic syndrome face an unexpected quandary when it comes to vitamin E -- they need more than normal levels of the vitamin because their weight and other problems are causing increased oxidative stress, but those same problems actually cause their effective use of vitamin E to be reduced. As a result, experts in the Linus … [Read more...]

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that people carrying a certain genetic variant relating to vitamin D metabolism are more likely to benefit from a high-protein weight loss diet than those without it. The research is by Dr Qibin Qi, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, … [Read more...]

Removing an enzyme that controls bile acid and hormone levels significantly protects female mice from weight gain, according to a new study presented today at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Edinburgh. The finding offers a new a therapeutic target in the fight against obesity. Steroid hormones and bile acids have multiple functions that affect appetite, … [Read more...]

The childhood obesity epidemic in the United States has been growing for decades. A new study focusing on African-American children shows how the issue can also impact social development. The University of Cincinnati study led by Laura Nabors, an associate professor of health promotion and education, will be featured in a poster presentation on Nov. 2, at the 143rd American … [Read more...]

A recent study suggests that obese people with metabolic syndrome face an unexpected quandary when it comes to vitamin E -- they need more than normal levels of the vitamin because their weight and other problems are causing increased oxidative stress, but those same problems actually cause their effective use of vitamin E to be reduced. As a result, experts in the Linus … [Read more...]

Eating too much high-fat, high-calorie food is considered the primary cause of obesity and obesity-related disease, including diabetes. While the excess calories consumed are a direct cause of the fat accumulation, scientists suspect that low-grade inflammation due to an altered gut microbiome may also be involved. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology -- … [Read more...]

A new study suggests the road to obesity may be paved with non-nutritious carbohydrates in breast milk, shifting popular notions about how and why children grow to become overweight adults. Previous research has shown that maternal obesity strongly affects a baby's risk for becoming overweight, but scientists are unsure about how fatness is transmitted, said Michael Goran, … [Read more...]

Forget counting calories. The next new diet trend could be as simple as counting bites. A new study from BYU health science researchers found people who counted bites over a month's time lost roughly four pounds--just about what the CDC recommends for "healthy" weight loss. Those in the pilot test counted the number of bites they took each day and then committed to taking … [Read more...]

A single variation in the gene for brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) may influence obesity in children and adults, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study suggests that a less common version of the BDNF gene may predispose people to obesity by producing lower levels of BDNF protein, a regulator of appetite, in the brain. The authors … [Read more...]

Researchers conducted a systematic review of randomized clinical trials comparing the long-term effectiveness of low-fat and higher-fat dietary interventions on weight loss. The effectiveness of low-fat diet on weight-loss has been debated for decades, and hundreds of randomized clinical trials aimed at evaluating this issue have been conducted with mixed results. … [Read more...]

Your job could be having an effect on your waistline, suggests new research published in Social Science & Medicine -- and it could be bad or good news depending on the sort of control you have over your work. The new study, by researchers at the University of Adelaide, Central Queensland University and the University of South Australia, shows that having skills and the … [Read more...]

Danish researchers have found that the ability to produce insulin is pivotal to the success of weight loss surgery in patients with type 2-diabetes. The study provides a better point of departure for advise and determining which patients will benefit from surgery. Type 2-diabetes is a serious complication for people with obesity. Obesity affects the economy as well as the … [Read more...]

A world-first study by QUT's Sleep in Early Childhood Research Group has revealed pre-schoolers exposed to more light earlier in day tend to weigh more. Cassandra Pattinson, a PhD student and her colleagues studied 48 children aged three to five from six Brisbane childcare centres over a two week period, measuring each child's sleep, activity and light exposure along with … [Read more...]

Delivering the hormone leptin directly to the brain through gene therapy aids weight loss without the significant side effect of bone loss, according to new collaborative research from Oregon State University and University of Florida. Rapid or significant weight loss through dieting can trigger bone loss. Loss of bone density, in turn, can lead to increased susceptibility … [Read more...]

In the study, researchers showed a protein called NLRP1 is switched on when increased dietary energy (food) intake triggers the cell to become 'unstable'. Activating the protein sets off a chain of events that instructs cells to use up their energy or fat stores to prevent excess fat accumulating. The research, led by Dr Seth Masters from Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall … [Read more...]

Kids who receive antibiotics throughout the course of their childhoods gain weight significantly faster than those who do not, according to new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research. The findings, published online Oct. 21 in the International Journal of Obesity, suggest that antibiotics may have a compounding effect throughout childhood on body mass index … [Read more...]

Being overweight or obese does not lead to improved survival among patients with type 2 diabetes. The large-scale study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers refutes previous studies that have suggested that, for people with diabetes, being overweight or obese could lead to lower mortality for people compared with normal-weight persons -- the so-called … [Read more...]

A common weight-loss operation called sleeve gastrectomy can make testosterone levels normal in obese men, according to new findings presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Surgeons from Stanford University in California reported that after undergoing this bariatric surgical procedure, obese patients with low testosterone levels experienced … [Read more...]

While high levels of the satiety hormone leptin don't help obese individuals lose weight, they do appear to directly contribute to their cardiovascular disease, researchers report. "With obesity, leptin cannot tell our brain to stop eating, but it can still tell our brain to increase the activity of the cardiovascular system," said Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist … [Read more...]

A study of nearly 400 people finds that those who exhibited more 'dispositional mindfulness', or awareness of and attention to their current feelings and thoughts, were less likely to be obese and had less abdominal fat than people who did not exhibit as much of that awareness. Dispositional mindfulness is not the same as mindfulness meditation, in which people make a … [Read more...]

In recent years, Florida State University College of Medicine researchers Angelina R. Sutin and Antonio Terracciano have found that people who experience weight discrimination are more likely to become or remain obese, to develop chronic health problems and to have a lower satisfaction with life. Now they've found that people who report being subjected to weight … [Read more...]

The food on your counter can predict your weight -- especially if it's cereal or soft drinks. Over 200 American kitchens were photographed to determine if the food sitting out on counters could predict the weight of the woman living in each home. The new Cornell study found that women who had breakfast cereal sitting on their counters weighed 20-lbs more than their neighbors … [Read more...]

High levels of total cholesterol are linked to a heightened risk of tendon abnormalities and pain, reveals a pooled analysis of the available evidence published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Chronic low level inflammation, prompted by cholesterol build-up in immune system cells, may have a key role, the findings suggest. Tendons are the tough fibres … [Read more...]

Genes involved in schizophrenia and obesity have been highlighted in a new UCL study, which could lead to a better understanding of the DNA variants which affect risk of these conditions and aid the development of improved strategies for prevention and treatment. The research by the UCL Genetics Institute, published in Annals of Human Genetics, involved analysing over one … [Read more...]

Researchers with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine (SOM) and the Marshall University Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (MIIR) have identified a mechanism for blocking the signal by which the cellular sodium-potassium pump amplifies oxidants (reactive oxygen species). These oxidants lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Their research was … [Read more...]

A group of researchers, led by Professor Richard Holt at the University of Southampton, are to investigate whether people with schizophrenia or first episode psychosis are able to reduce their weight through a structured education program. People with schizophrenia are two to three times more likely to be overweight or obese. As well as a range of adverse physical health … [Read more...]

  While a healthy lifestyle and "good genes" are known to help prevent obesity, new research published on September 15 in Immunity indicates that certain aspects of the immune system may also play an important role. In the new study, scientists observed that mice lacking a particular type of immune cell gained excess weight and developed metabolic abnormalities even … [Read more...]

  A study evaluating the effects of bariatric surgery on obese women most at risk for cancer has found that the weight-loss surgery slashed participants' weight by a third and eliminated precancerous uterine growths in those that had them. Other effects included improving patients' physical quality of life, improving their insulin levels and ability to use glucose -- … [Read more...]

  There's another burst of seat-bouncing, giggling and shouting in researcher Rebecca Hasson's simulated classroom at the University of Michigan as Hasson catches study participant Marcus Patton cheating at Sorry! Marcus isn't having it. "How do you call that cheating?" demands Patton, an 11-year-old cyclone of energy. Patton admits it's tough to sit still. Like … [Read more...]

More than 30-percent of Americans are considered obese.  The extra fat puts them at risk for diabetes, stroke and heart attack. But are all obese people unhealthy? Some could actually be healthier than their skinny friends. Jennifer Boeving told Ivanhoe, “My thinnest, I was probably 115, my biggest, probably 215.” Jennifer was featured in the HBO special The Weight of The … [Read more...]