Archive for July, 2015
July 11, 2015 — Maybe one of the reasons obesity has been such a tough nut to crack is that we simply cannot talk about obesity in any constructive way most of the time. A recent study in Primary Health Care Research and Development by Anita Laidlaw and colleagues finds what many other studies have found: In primary care consultations with […]
July 10, 2015 — Early reports are in on uptake of the latest new treatment available for obesity, Saxenda liraglutide injection. Industry analyst Spencer Osborne reports that sales for Saxenda surpassed a rate of 1,000 prescriptions per week just nine weeks into the introduction of the product. Considering a very targeted positioning for people with BMIs greater than 35 and a […]
July 9, 2015 — Some people vividly imagine the smell of these croissants or other foods more than other people. New research finds that people with obesity report that they more vividly imagine both smells and images of foods than people with lower BMIs. This capacity to imagine food smells and images is linked to food cravings and pleasurable responses to food. Barkha […]
July 8, 2015 — One bit of encouraging news about access to evidence-based obesity care is coming out of Colorado. It relates to benchmarks for health plans under the Affordable Care Act. Colorado has just adopted a new benchmark, for 2017 and beyond, which will take it from requiring no obesity treatment services in health insurance plans to requiring that […]
July 7, 2015 — Another new randomized, controlled study adds to the evidence that bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes provides dramatically better control of the disease for people with obesity than intensive lifestyle therapy alone. Anita Courcoulas and colleagues from Pittsburgh have just published this study in JAMA Surgery. In this small, but well-controlled study, a total of 69 […]
July 6, 2015 — The New York Times describes a booming business in weight management because the Affordable Care Act has health insurance paying doctors to deal with obesity. Through anecdotes and interviews with people who have something to sell, they paint a vaguely disturbing picture of flourishing “for-profit diet clinics” that operate on “the fringe of the medical establishment.” […]
July 5, 2015 — Anyone who has been paying attention has a pretty good idea that sitting around in front of a computer screen or just sitting at a desk isn’t so good for their health. But what are you going to do about it? That’s simple — just get up and move around every hour. Okay, but honestly […]
July 4, 2015 — Not all of the people who are selling us wellness are accountable for the truth of what they’re offering. The folks at the Glycemic Index Foundation have put together a solid analysis of the gaps between truth and reality in print and online from people who are selling us wellness in the form of freedom from […]
July 3, 2015 — It’s hard to know if this is a political calculation or an unscripted Clinton moment. But it’s looking like Former President Bill Clinton is ready to take over Let’s Move! from Michelle Obama. It would be an interesting role for this former president who was once famous for his fast food appetite. In a commentary published by […]
July 2, 2015 — The response to new data on obesity treatment — published today in the New England Journal of Medicine — gives us some flicker of hope that attitudes about obesity treatment are shifting. The publication is the 56-week pivotal safety and efficacy study of liraglutide for treating obesity. Xavier Pi-Sunyer and colleagues found that most (63%) […]