Archive for the ‘Health & Obesity’ Category
February 7, 2025 — Novo Nordisk and Lilly reported on their business results this week for the final quarter of 2024. These reports brought clarity on a number of points, but to us, one thing stands out. We are moving from euphoria and hype about limitless possibilities in obesity to the realities of market competition and incremental progress. Sales […]
February 6, 2025 — From the category of stuff that can’t be good. a study in Nature Medicine this week documents a spoonful of microplastics accumulating in an typical human brain. Alexander Nihart and colleagues used diverse methods to detect microplastics in various tissues (kidney, liver, and brain) of deceased individuals from 2016 and 2024. They found these particles […]
February 5, 2025 — Yesterday, another report came out to suggest that the prevalence of obesity and overweight may have peaked in the American population – at a combined prevalence of 75%. This particular report comes from Epic Research, based on electronic health records for more than 100 million patients. Every time one of these reports emerges, headlines are […]
February 4, 2025 — Chasing the possibility of multi-billion dollar obesity medicines, pharmaceutical companies are jumping at the chance to spend billions in clinical research. But patient advocates find a reluctance from some of those same companies to take people with obesity into account in the drug labels for their products already on the market. Writing for In Vivo, […]
February 3, 2025 — A new study in JAMA Network Open makes one thing very clear. Most people who take GLP-1 medicines for obesity quit within a year. Most who take them for diabetes are less likely to quit. Why are the disparities in GLP-1 medicines for obesity so great in comparison to their use for diabetes? It’s all […]
February 2, 2025 — On Friday, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research documented a remarkable reversal in attitudes about obesity medicines. Roughly half of the public believes “it’s a good idea” to use obesity medicines for obesity or weight-related health conditions. Likewise, most Americans believe Medicare and Medicaid should cover the use of these drugs. Only about 20% […]
February 1, 2025 — The sincerity and passion of Dariush Mozaffarian is easy to recognize and admire. His deep belief in the opportunity for good food to make us healthier is familiar. It echoes the impassioned pitch of a politician before Senate hearings this week. Too many Americans have too many “diet-related” diseases. Time’s a wastin’! Let them all […]
January 31, 2025 — For persons with obesity and prediabetes, one of the best ways to prevent diabetes onset is quite clear. Treat the obesity to reduce the excess adiposity. The Diabetes Prevention Program established this with a study in the NEJM way back in 2002. A prescription of diet and exercise could cut the risk of diabetes in […]
January 30, 2025 — A new paper in JAMA Network Open documents just how dizzy the pace of change in prescribing for obesity care has been in the last seven years. Prescriptions for obesity medicines have doubled. Phentermine prescribing has grown – it’s generic, cheap, and effective. Even now, it accounts for almost half of obesity medicine prescriptions. But […]
January 29, 2025 — FDA yesterday approved Ozempic (semaglutide) to prevent kidney failure and death in persons with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. This fits with one of the five trends for this year: the steady expansion of health benefits for advanced medicines used in obesity and diabetes. But note that this approval covers the use of […]