News Archive for November, 2024

Is the glass half full? Or 99% empty? The metaphorical glass in this case is the number of people with a legitimate indication for the remarkable prescription drug generically known as semaglutide. Ivy Shi et al presented an elegant answer at the AHA Scientific Sessions this week and simultaneously published it in JAMA Cardiology. They […]

With detailed reporting in New York Times Magazine, Tomas Weber suggests that GLP-1 medicines “turn consumers off ultra-processed foods” and threaten to “crush the junk-food business.” He has woven a great collection of anecdotes into an appealing narrative. For instance, Kathleen Kenney has lost more than 100 pounds on these advanced medicines. She tells a […]

Fat cells don’t forget. That simple fact comes from new research published in Nature yesterday which explains a fundamental truth about obesity that eludes most people in their thinking about this condition. It is a chronic disease. Fat cells have an epigenetic memory for obesity they retain even when people lose a lot of weight. […]

Bálint Magyar tells us in his recent Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes that “populism offers problem-solving without moral constraints.” As we witness unconstrained egos with pseudo-populist views about obesity, diet, and health spout their dogma, the words of Magyar ring true. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a simple answer for obesity: “Giving good food, three meals […]

By 38%, Tirzepatide cuts the risk of bad outcomes in persons with obesity and an increasingly common form of heart failure that obesity causes. The diagnosis is heart failure with preserved ejection fraction or HFpEF. The measure of bad outcomes it prevents was a composite worsening heart failure or death from cardiovascular disease. Worsening heart […]

Research presented at ObesityWeek 2024 shines a light on a blind spot in drug labeling for persons with obesity. No, we’re not talking about the latest buzzy drug for treating obesity. Rather, we are talking about a prime example of labeling for other drugs that people with obesity may need when they face a serious […]

If one is in the mood to stare into the abyss of futility, the Lancet has a perspective for you on obesity today. The Global Burden of Disease project has a new analysis of obesity in the U.S. It tells us that 76% of adults 25 and older have overweight and obesity. Furthermore, that number […]

In the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday, detailed results of a three-year study showed that tirzepatide was 99% effective in preventing diabetes in people with prediabetes and obesity. This was a placebo-controlled trial. Every person in the study, whether they received tirzepatide or not, received regular lifestyle counseling. Compared to the control group getting […]

Standing desks arrived with high hopes of countering the health risks of a sedentary office lifestyle, promising to reduce heart disease and improve circulation. However, recent research in the International Journal of Epidemiology casts doubt on whether simply swapping sitting for standing delivers these benefits. Cardiovascular Risk Benefit? In a study of over 83,000 adults, […]

For several years now it has been apparent that success in reducing deaths due to cardiovascular disease has slowed or stopped. This is part of the story of declining U.S. life expectancy that headlines often overlook. New research at the upcoming AHA Scientific Sessions tells us rising obesity might explain much of this trend. In […]