Archive for December, 2012

Lorcaserin (Belviq®) Clears a Final Hurdle

December 21, 2012 — The DEA issued its decision this week on new obesity drug, lorcaserin, placing it on Schedule IV, as most analysts expected. Finalizing this decision should be the final hurdle to its launch, which is expected in Q1 2013. The most restrictive DEA schedule, Schedule I, contains drugs that have no accepted medical use in the […]

#1 U.S. Pharmacy Plan Will Cover Obesity Treatment

December 20, 2012 — Another insurer jumped on the obesity coverage bandwagon, which means more good news for people seeking treatment options. Vivus announced its drug, Qsymia, will now be covered by ExpressScripts, the largest U.S. pharmacy benefits manager. Express Scripts will carry Qsymia in its national formulary as a standard option, meaning patients who go through ExpressScripts as […]

Nanny State or Sound Health Policy?

December 20, 2012 — Can government policies reverse the obesity epidemic? Or do such policies just provide examples of a nanny state over-reaching in futility? In a comprehensive report on obesity, The Economist suggests caution is in order. Everyone agrees the problem of obesity needs to be addressed. But we have little evidence for successful  broad scale interventions. That […]

Americans Living Longer, Not Healthier

December 19, 2012 — The 2012 report from America’s Health Rankings suggests Americans are living longer but not necessarily living healthier. America’s Health Rankings, a partnership of American Public Health Association, the Partnership for Prevention and the United Healthcare Foundation, has updated this report every year since 1990, reports that life expectancy in the U.S. is now at 78.5 […]

Food Industry Invites Then Disinvites Critic

December 18, 2012 — Yoni Freedhoff, obesity expert and health and nutrition blogger at Weighty Matters, recently found himself disinvited from speaking on health and nutrition policy at a food industry event by the Ontario Medical Association. Undaunted, he went to the web to share what he felt the food industry was trying to keep him from saying. Freedhoff is […]

Falling Childhood Obesity Rates Bring Hope

December 17, 2012 — After years of increases, obesity rates in children have fallen in a number of cities across the U.S., giving scientists hope that the crisis has begun to level off. Declines have been reported in New York; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; Kearny, Nebraska; and Anchorage, Alaska. The drops are small — 5% in Philadelphia, 3% in Los […]

Spelman Leading on Black Women’s Health

December 16, 2012 — With black women facing significantly higher rates of excess weight or obesity than the average American (4 out of 5 vs 2 out of 3), some people are taking action. After Surgeon General Regina Benjamin encouraged women to stop allowing concern about the look of their hair to keep them from exercising, actress Nicole Ari […]

Obesity Prevention Strategies Ignore the Evidence

December 15, 2012 — Obesity prevention strategies being implemented and those considered feasible and effective often do not follow evidence in the scientific literature. That was the finding from a survey of public health practitioners and policy-makers from government and non-government organizations across Victoria, Australia. The study asked practitioners and policy makers about their organizations’ current obesity prevention programs and policies, […]

Perceived Ideal Weight Rises with Average Weight

December 14, 2012 — A recent Gallup poll shows that as Americans gain weight, their perception of ideal weight rises too. In the poll, which was conducted in 1991, 1999, and every year since 2001, men’s perception of the average ideal weight has risen 14 pounds, from 171 to 185, as their actual average self-reported weight has risen from […]

The Eyes Have It When It Comes to Hunger

December 13, 2012 — Your visual memory of what you ate may play a bigger role in your feelings of fullness several hours after a meal than how much you actually ate, says a new study from British researchers published in PLOS One. The researchers showed 100 people a picture of either a 300 ml serving of cream of […]