March 17, 2023 — “Coffee could slash obesity,” says the New York Post. Now you might think that cynical folks at the Post just make this stuff up because it’s so obviously false. But in fact, they have help from PR by the BMJ, and they’re not alone. The BMJ managed to induce quite a few news outlets last […]
March 6, 2023 — For the health of the U.S. population, this is a bad sign. While healthcare has done well to bringing down the prevalence of high cholesterol in young persons, diabetes and obesity are surging. Hypertension? It’s in between – neither rising nor falling in persons 20 to 44 over the timespan from 2009 to 2020. These […]
February 3, 2023 — This is a story that’s been on repeat for well over a year. Novo Nordisk announced its business results for the full year of 2022 this week and declared that supply issues with Wegovy are over – almost. But the fact is that it’s not at all clear that the problem of supply shortages for […]
December 24, 2022 — For some of us, gaining weight (especially at this time of year) is a metabolic curse. But there are individuals for whom gaining weight is a metabolic gift and, in fact, essential for surviving in good health. In this case, we are thinking about grizzly bears. These animals gain tremendous amounts of weight every year […]
November 18, 2022 — It is already starting. Here in North America, the weather is becoming crisp and winter holiday preparations are underway. The traditional feast of Thanksgiving is coming upon us next week. So a recent analysis of copious continuous glucose monitoring data from a small group of diabetes patients offers relevant insight into the challenge of metabolic […]
August 26, 2022 — Progress keeps coming in the pharmacotherapy for obesity. This week, Novo Nordisk announced that its new combination therapy of semaglutide and cagrilintide hit all its marks in a 32-week phase 2 study of patients with diabetes and excess weight. The combination – Novo is calling it CagriSema – worked better than either semaglutide or cagrilintide […]
July 7, 2022 — “Time-restricted feeding could be key to combat obesity,” says the headline. The press release from the University of California at San Diego is a little more restrained, though. “A rhythmic small intestinal microbiome prevents obesity and type 2 diabetes,” it says. Then finally we get down to reality in the paper. There we find that […]
June 20, 2022 — Seeking remission from type 2 diabetes is an elusive goal for people who are facing this diagnosis. The very human wish is to banish this disease forever, but that’s not what remission really is. In fact, remission means a respite from an illness – not the promise of a cure. Physician Anne Peters describes the […]
June 7, 2022 — Just about any medical diagnosis can be a bit dehumanizing. Even more so when a medical professional takes it a step further and explicitly labels a person with their diagnosis. For most diseases, health professionals have long understood that labeling people in this way – as an “epileptic,” for example – is bad form. But […]
June 6, 2022 — Two ideas are hard to miss at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. One is that it’s getting harder to treat and prevent diabetes adequately without treating obesity. Second is that health systems can’t handle this reality. They are systematically preventing adequate obesity and diabetes care. Distinct but Overlapping Diseases Let’s get […]
