Archive for June, 2020

The Tortured Pathway for a New NASH Treatment

June 30, 2020 — It’s tough getting good information these days. Good, factual information. Everybody wants to spin it. That’s undeniable in public policy. But it also seems to be true in drug development. Yesterday, the FDA definitively rejected an application from Intercept Pharmaceuticals for a new drug to treat NASH – nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The company was shocked. Its […]

Urban Legends of Obesity Prevention

June 29, 2020 — For the last four decades, obesity prevention has been quite a challenge. We’ve heard much talk about bold programs. We’ve seen more than a few victory celebrations. And yet, the prevalence of obesity keeps climbing. So recently, when Tamar Haspel wrote about “jaw-dropping” success in Huntington, WV, she caught our attention. She described a drop […]

What’s Up with Vitamin D and the Coronavirus?

June 28, 2020 — The pandemic has been tough on many businesses, but it’s been a boon to others. Dietary supplement sales, for example, are feeding quite nicely on our fears. At the top of the list is vitamin D, getting a boost from speculation that deficiencies could make a person more vulnerable to the coronavirus. However, the bottom […]

CDC Broadens Guidance on Obesity Risk for COVID-19

June 27, 2020 — Early in the pandemic, CDC identified a higher risk for severe symptoms with COVID-19 in people with severe obesity. This week, the agency broadened its guidance to include all individuals with a BMI of 30 or greater. This is the epidemiologic benchmark for obesity – severe or not. What’s more, it’s a benchmark that describes […]

Will Opening Gyms Spread COVID-19? An RCT

June 26, 2020 — People are dying to get back to normal right now. Or at least, judging by news reports, some are certainly willing to take risks. Gyms are a particular sore spot. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been in court to prevent gyms from opening and spreading COVID-19 in her state. Other states are opening their gyms. […]

Self-Care for Men While COVID-19 Lurks for Us

June 25, 2020 — Even if you missed the email, it’s not too late. June is Men’s Health Month, so we’re doing our part with the OAC to focus on what this really means. After all, men indeed have a lot to think about while COVID-19 lurks for us all. If you’re male and you get this nasty virus, […]

Proving an Important Point with a Lousy Study

June 24, 2020 — “In your heart, you know he’s right.” That political tagline was a loser in 1964 and it ranks as one of ten worst of all time. But it’s even worse if such thinking is applied to science. A study seems to prove an important point at a critical moment. So it’s rushed into publication. Then […]

Food Cues After the COVID Pandemic

June 23, 2020 — Tamar Haspel tells a positively appealing story in the Washington Post this week. We don’t have a problem with obesity because of carbs, she writes. Nor fats, nor processed foods. The problem is the food environment. Cheap, convenient food surrounds us, with endless prompts to eat it. All these food cues, coaxing us to eat […]

Racism Baked into Health and Obesity Care

June 22, 2020 — We are in a moment when life and death and race and ethnicity are forcing conversations that White people politely avoid. It’s uncomfortable. But the brutal deaths of Black people at the hands of police have become impossible to ignore. And in the COVID-19 pandemic, Black and Latino people are dying in numbers that make […]

Really? Blame the Food Industry for COVID-19?

June 21, 2020 — We’ve seen quite a range of responses to the observation that obesity leads to worse outcomes with COVID-19. But most of them are unhelpful. First, of course, was denial. Now we have the anger phase. Over in the U.K., folks are murmuring that we should blame the food industry. Writing in the BMJ, Monique Tan, […]