Archive for May, 2023

Natural Killer Cells in Obesity and Its Treatment

May 11, 2023 — The natural killers of our immune system – lymphocytes known as natural killer cells – increasingly seem to have a role in the pathophysiology of obesity and in the response to its treatment. Just this week, researchers from Ireland published a study showing that semaglutide for obesity may restore more normal function of these cells. […]

Scratching the Surface with New Obesity Meds

May 9, 2023 — With all the sensational reporting about semaglutide and tirzepatide for obesity – often with the emphasis on weight loss – you might think a revolution is underway. Yes, it is coming. But the truth is that it hasn’t even started yet. At present, for a number of reasons, we are barely scratching the surface of […]

Cheap Copies of Semaglutide Under Scrutiny

May 8, 2023 — Semaglutide for the treatment of obesity continues to be in short supply. Late last week, Novo Nordisk announced that, because the company is still having difficulty keeping up with demand, they would limit production of the lower doses used to start patients on Wegovy. Thus, compounding pharmacies are selling cheap copies of semaglutide injection and […]

Altered Food Supply: Cause or Effect of Obesity?

May 7, 2023 — One of the fundamental assumptions we make about the origins of the rise in obesity is that the food supply has changed in ways that trigger more obesity in more people. You might say it is the foundation upon which most public health experts and policy makers build their thinking about this problem. But what […]

Michelle Obama Starts a Healthy Food Company

May 6, 2023 — Nope. We are not done with fighting obesity by selling water, fruits, and veggies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama is starting a healthy food and beverage company with the help of private equity. Ordinarily, we’re supposed to think of private equity as the bad guys – helping the rich get richer and driving wider disparities. […]

Endocrinologists Target Stigma in Obesity Care

May 5, 2023 — Yesterday at the AACE 2023 annual meeting and in Endocrine Practice, this society of clinical endocrinologists unveiled a new consensus statement on obesity. The core message is unmistakable: endocrinologists should prioritize reducing the harm of stigma in obesity care. Karl Nadolsky, lead author, presented this new consensus at the meeting and tells ConscienHealth: “This is […]

Ways of Paying for Innovation in Obesity Care

May 4, 2023 — How can we possibly afford paying for all of the innovation that’s coming in obesity care? This is hardly an academic question. It’s a practical one that flickers in the minds of policymakers who balk at finding ways to make effective treatment for obesity more accessible to the people with great medical needs for it. […]

Preoccupation with Food Overshadows Sleep

May 3, 2023 — We have received enough lectures for a lifetime from people who know just what the root cause of obesity is. The lecturers know the cause and they know the solution: tax, nudge, cajole, and educate people to follow a healthier diet. Eat less of that awful ultra-processed food. But the presumption that it’s all about […]

Hammering Away at Diets to Reverse Obesity

May 2, 2023 — “Especially for children, diet and lifestyle must remain at the forefront of obesity prevention and treatment.” This conviction, summing up a new editorial in JAMA, beautifully captures the discomfort that the availability of more effective treatments for obesity causes. The belief persists that diets and exercise are the right way to reverse obesity. So the […]

Bariatric Surgery Cuts Cancer Risk from Obesity

May 2, 2023 — Yet again we are reminded that bariatric surgery has quite an impressive record for improving the health of people with obesity. In a retrospective cohort study of 55,789 patients receiving bariatric surgery, risk of obesity-related cancer came down by half. Researchers matched the non-surgical control group using propensity scores for demographics, comorbidity, hormone therapy, and […]