Posts Tagged ‘chronic disease’

This has been quite a year. Many remarkable changes we’ve witnessed go well beyond the scope of this commentary. In the policy realm, some of them are close at hand. CDC, which has long guided health policy on obesity, nutrition, and physical activity, has been decimated. NIH is under extraordinary stress. But on the positive […]

The headlines won’t stop. “Obesity rates are falling and it’s almost certainly because of Ozempic,” says the Futurism banner. Vox tells us “the Ozempic effect is finally showing up in obesity data.” So can it be true that use of GLP-1s is lowering obesity prevalence? The short answer is no. Not now. Probably not ever. […]

At the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons this week, six smart people debated the future of metabolic surgery versus medicines in the treatment of obesity. The interest in this debate is unmistakable. Our newsfeed is full of it. The undercurrent seems to be an implicit contest. Which is best? Which will prevail? […]

The new administration in Washington says it wants to Make America Healthy Again by bringing an intense focus on chronic disease. This is a concept we endorse without reservation. But talk is turning into balk when it comes down to following through on the scientific research essential for reducing the burden of chronic disease. 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. […]

From the Presidential Plenary at ObesityWeek, a primary issue standing in the way of progress is quite clear. Are we tipping toward equity in obesity care, or are we tripping over it? Tipping Toward Progress The argument for progress comes from putting the lived experience of obesity on stage to dominate the opening plenary for […]

More than a decade has passed since the American Medical Association confirmed that obesity is a complex, chronic disease. But the rest of the world is still struggling with this idea. Much as we have all started to say obesity is a disease, we more often act like it’s merely a risk factor for other […]

One of the core principles Obesity Care Week is that this chronic disease is treatable. That’s becoming plain to see with emergence of advanced GLP-1 therapies. But equity in access to obesity care is practically non-existent. Prices for these medicines are high, supplies are low, and health plans make a sport of torturing people who […]

On this, the second day of Obesity Care Week, let’s step back from all the complexity of obesity and focus on five simple principles that hold great promise for improving the way we care for people with this disease. It really doesn’t have to be so hard. 1. It Is Undeniable That Obesity Is a […]

Medical terms can carry a lot of baggage. Leprosy, cancer, diabetes, autism, and obesity are just a few examples. What they all have in common is that they describe conditions that can cause a lot of trouble, but either don’t or didn’t have an easy resolution. So to greater or lesser degrees, people attached stigma […]