June 20, 2014 — This week, the fascinating people who read our daily updates pushed ConscienHealth through some notable milestones. Thanks for reading, commenting, and spreading the word! Thanks to you we’ve surpassed 100,000 visits, 6,000 Facebook fans, and 500 subscribers who want to be the first to receive daily ConscienHealth updates. If you haven’t subscribed yet, just enter […]
June 20, 2014 — Marketing practices for tobacco, food, and increasingly e-cigarettes can serve to make many people mad. We witnessed first hand this week a prime example in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing about e-cigarette marketing practices. Senator Jay Rockefeller opened up the hearing, saying “I’m feeling on edge about this.” It went downhill from there. Ordinarily Rockefeller is known […]
June 19, 2014 — Quite a buzz started last week when news surfaced that Dr. Mehmet Oz would give expert testimony at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on weight loss scams. People saw the possibility for a ridiculous spectacle or lots of unintended humor because of the “weight loss miracles” he’s promoted on his show. Our own posts about […]
June 18, 2014 — VBLOC therapy for obesity won a mixed but positive verdict from an FDA advisory panel after a long day of deliberations Tuesday. FDA’s expert panel for gastroenterology devices gave a split — but on balance positive — vote in favor of approval for the EnteroMedics Maestro VBLOC therapy system. VBLOC therapy works to block the vagus nerve […]
June 17, 2014 — Liver disease is being taken over by obesity. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is now the third most common reason for liver transplantation and it’s on track to be the leading cause soon. The chief of liver transplantation at UCLA, Ronald Busuttil, recently told the New York Times: I’m really afraid that the explosion of this condition […]
June 16, 2014 — Evidence that a bionic pancreas — a closed loop system for controlling blood glucose — can really work burst into the news on Sunday with simultaneous presentation at the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association and publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The data show that a bionic pancreas system developed at […]
June 15, 2014 — At the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), we find ourselves wondering if resistance to diabetes surgery represents cautious wisdom or entrenched stubbornness. It’s a thin line. Four bits of new data — all coming outside of the meeting — are begging the question. Courcoulas et al conducted a randomized, controlled trial of gastric […]
June 14, 2014 — This week brought the news that Coca-Cola will be launching a reduced-sugar version of their iconic brand in the U.K. under the name Coca-Cola Life. Beverage Digest reported that the product will also be introduced into the U.S. market in the same time frame, September or October of this year. Coca-Cola Life was first introduced […]
June 13, 2014 — No one could make this up. Dr. Mehmet Oz is scheduled to appear at a Senate hearing on weight loss scams next week. He certainly is an expert on the subject. On his popular medical advice show, in just five years Oz has promoted no fewer than 16 miracles for weight loss. The list includes such […]
June 12, 2014 — Exactly one year after an unsteady move to recognize obesity as a complex chronic disease, the American Medical Association (AMA) jumped on board to advocate for patient access to evidence-based obesity treatment. Resolution 111 passed without opposition: Resolved that our AMA, consistent with H-440.842 Recognition of Obesity as a Disease, work in concert with national […]
