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.
Merck Discontinues Development of Investigational Medicine Taranabant for Obesity – 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.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Research team discovers brain pathway responsible for obesity. – 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.
Chemical suppressing hunger hormone yields result as good as bariatric surgery to reduce obesity. – 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.
Gastric bypass results in substantial weight loss in most patients. Diabetes and larger pouch size are independently associated with poor weight loss after GBP. – 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.
Increased risk of obesity owing to genetic susceptibility by FTO variants can be blunted through physical activity, exercise. These findings emphasize the important role of physical activity in public health efforts to combat obesity, particularly in genetically susceptible individuals. – 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.
Some aspects of poorer neurological function like physical control and coordination in childhood associated with adult obesity. – 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 do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks. – 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.
UK health authorities will inform parents of children who have been weighed and measured at school if found over weight and obese. – 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.
Kaiser Permanente study suggests that the dieters who write down what they eat every day can shed twice as much weight as those who don’t. – 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.
Worksite based weight loss programs are found modestly effective for people who participate in them, say University of Cincinnati researchers in recent study. – Worksite-based weight loss programs can result in modest short-term improvements in body weight, revealed by researchers in a study. The purpose of the study was to update a review on the effectiveness of worksite-based weight-loss programs.
