December 10, 2019 — Entrenched habits die hard. So it is with treating bariatric surgery as a last resort. In case you had any doubt, a new study in PLOS Medicine provides more reason to rethink this is a false premise for bariatric surgery. Jans Anders and colleagues found that when more time passes between the onset of diabetes […]
December 9, 2019 — We’re just about done with this decade that started in 2010. And if you look back over these ten years, it’s plain to see that we’ve marked some big milestones in obesity and health. Here are ten that stand out. No doubt, others will seem big to you. So please, use the comment function below […]
December 8, 2019 — Obesity presents many challenges, but perhaps some of the most troubling can be with pregnancy. It can make getting pregnant more difficult. Also, it can lead to complications in pregnancy. So the news that obesity treatment in the form of bariatric surgery might make pregnancy safer is good news indeed. An Observational Study First and […]
December 3, 2019 — How do people with obesity – or any other health condition – become stigmatized? It turns out that words are very important for weight stigma. In Communication Theory, Professor Rachel Smith offers us powerful insight with a classic paper. Four elements are critical. Thus, we should be careful about letting those elements creep into the […]
December 2, 2019 — We have a chronic disease problem. It started in America. It’s spreading all around the world. And already in the U.S. it’s playing a major role in reversing long-term gains in life expectancy. Yet, the response has been tepid, says William Dietz with two commentaries published in the last month. Dietz is Director of the […]
November 22, 2019 — New data this week adds to our view of life and health for teens after bariatric surgery. Both are better for most of them after bariatric surgery. This week’s data deals with quality of life, pain, physical function, and kidney function. Two new studies document important benefits from the surgery. One other study offers an […]
November 20, 2019 — Sad but true, most obesity care is self care. For the most part, that means personal efforts to lose and maintain a lower weight. Recently, a study in JAMA Open Networks, by Liyuan Han et al, generated a flood of headlines on this subject. Bottom line, the story was that “more people are trying and […]
November 19, 2019 — Bias, beliefs, and moral convictions live alongside the human capacity to rationalize just about anything. Some people see obesity as a moral failure. They see obesity treatment as a moral hazard. Others regard it as a non-issue. Merely a symptom of moral panic. But despite – or perhaps because of – all these conflicting views, […]
November 18, 2019 — Let’s talk about two different kinds of bypass surgeries. Both of them are the subject of studies presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meeting this past weekend. But that’s where the similarities end. Operation C We’ll call the first of these procedures Operation C. More than 200,000 people have these surgeries done every year. […]
November 13, 2019 — “We can’t treat our way out of this.” That simple declaration about the rising prevalence of obesity among children and youth has profound consequences. One of those consequences is children, youth, and families left without options for dealing with a serious health problem. For one thing, good obesity care is hard to find and hard […]
