January 26, 2022 — The relationship between diabetes and COVID-19 grows more interesting by the day. Early in the pandemic, it became clear that diabetes is an important risk factor for severe complications with COVID-19. As more research emerged, it became clear that inflammation is a mediator for this risk. And now it seems that diabetes might even raise […]
January 25, 2022 — The pandemic rearranged the landscape for many industries, and it certainly did that for the fitness industry. In 2019, it was a $97 billion industry. Then it shrank to $54 billion in 2021. Facilities closed and suddenly the big trends were fitness apps, home fitness, and outdoor workouts. Proving that luck matters, Peloton soared in […]
January 25, 2022 — Some people really don’t like low calorie sweeteners. So once again we have a wave of fear-mongering headlines. This time, they’re suggesting that pregnant women who consume these sweeteners may harm their babies. The proposed harm is a change in the baby’s microbiome and a higher risk of obesity. The evidence? A study of rats […]
January 23, 2022 — Increasingly, we find ourselves burdened by TMI about health, much of which we cannot trust. Such an overload of dubious information makes it hard to make good decisions. Evidence of this is everywhere we turn. People are dying needlessly from COVID after choosing to refuse vaccination. And to be sure, the subject of obesity, weight, […]
January 22, 2022 — Without really thinking about it, most everyone assumes obesity is all about diet and exercise. But of course, the causes of obesity are not so simple. We have more obesity today than we did 20 years ago because multiple factors in our environment are triggering more obesity in people who are biologically susceptible. One of […]
January 21, 2022 — Bariatric surgery has a profound effect on the chronic disease of obesity. Diabetes goes into remission and hunger recedes. Metabolism finds a steadier state, more compatible with good health. But the billion-dollar question is, how? Make no mistake. This is a big puzzle. Now a series of publications over the last several weeks reveals the […]
January 20, 2022 — After four decades of agitation about childhood obesity it seems like we might safely assume that scientists can measure and track it with confidence. But it turns out that this is not exactly true. Why? Because of flaws in something called the BMI z-score. Body fat quite normally changes in children with age. What’s healthy […]
January 19, 2022 — A new study in Obesity tells us that telehealth can work just fine in obesity care. But what will the future hold? Payers and patients will likely have their their say. Already, telehealth businesses have had quite a bumpy ride. A prime example would be Teledoc, which saw its stock soar from $83 per share […]
January 18, 2022 — It is something of an underground PR triumph. What has long been a season of short-lived diets and unused gym memberships now seems to be a season for mindfulness and intuitive eating. It is a season for beating up on diet culture instead of beating up on ourselves. A descriptive title for the mood of […]
January 17, 2022 — The track record for preventing obesity in childhood is not especially impressive. Could it improve with objective measures to identify babies most at risk for obesity as they grow up? A new study of data from the INSIGHT program has found a new polygenic risk score that might help with this. There’s just one little […]
