Archive for June, 2021

A Medieval Concept for Weight Loss

June 30, 2021 — “After 24 hours, the participants indicated that they occasionally felt embarrassed, self-conscious, and that life, in general, was less satisfying.” Nonetheless, researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand think they have an “attractive alternative” for weight loss. It’s a dental device with magnets. It attaches to a person’s teeth to prevent them from […]

Yes, the COVID-19 Vaccine Is Still Working Well

June 29, 2021 — “Translate for me, please. Is this paper saying vaccines don’t work as well for people with obesity?” This question came from a dear friend and the short answer is no. That’s not what this paper shows. The paper in question is a preprint – which means essentially that it is a draft report of research […]

Louisiana Decides to Cover a Little Bariatric Surgery

June 28, 2021 — For state employees in Louisiana, this might seem like a big step forward. Or it might be so small that it doesn’t amount to much. Last week, the Governor of Louisiana signed a bill into law that requires the state employee health plan to cover bariatric surgery. However, it comes with some serious limitations. Thousands […]

Threatening People with Starvation to Make Them Work

June 27, 2021 — “I had a student this year when I was trying to explain the disincentive effects of unemployment insurance – and I was being a good economist and explaining moral hazard, and how this is going to discourage people from working. Student raised his hand and said, is it really moral to use the threat of […]

Tirzepatide and Semaglutide Begin to Compete

June 26, 2021 — Semaglutide is getting a lot of attention right now because of its impressive effectiveness for treating obesity. But it may not have the spotlight all to itself for long. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine tells us that tirzepatide will be giving semaglutide some serious competition. This study was for treating […]

Waiting for Godot and for SSB Taxes to Work

June 25, 2021 — In the realm of obesity and public health, the role of sugar-sweetened drinks in obesity is an article of faith. Questioning it will get you a tongue-lashing at best, but more likely, shunned. Likewise, the cool kids in public health expect you to agree that SSB taxes work. Yet again, we have a new study […]

Public Health Policy That Harms More Than Helps

June 24, 2021 — Writing in the Lancet, Janet Treasure and Suman Ambwani have a simple request. Public health policy should stop promoting weight stigma. The request is simple, but it may not be easy. For decades now, public health has often focused on promoting fear of fat, rather than the pursuit of health. The result is health policy […]

Oops: Published But Not Registered or Randomized

June 23, 2021 — Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes, said Oscar Wilde. So our latest “experience”  comes from the Obesity journal, where an unusual correction appeared yesterday. An article published in the journal precisely three months ago posted results for treating obesity that seemed too good to be true. But the paper said this study […]

Serious, Thoughtful, and Rare Conversations About Obesity

June 22, 2021 — How rare is it to have serious and thoughtful conversations with primary care providers about obesity? Here’s a clue that it’s rare. Less than one in ten patients who might benefit from bariatric surgery discuss it with their doctor. Yet when this happens, things get better. Not everyone who discusses the surgery goes on to […]

An Inconvenient Finding? “We Have to Stomp It Out”

June 21, 2021 — Are people with overweight, but not obesity, more or less likely to die early than people with a lower BMI? When researchers at CDC and NCI published an answer to this question in 2005, it created quite a stir. The surprising finding was that folks in the range of overweight were not more likely to […]