May 13, 2019 — While gastric sleeve procedures became the most common form of bariatric surgery in the U.S., a new and less invasive approach has been coming along. An “Accordion” sleeve procedure shrinks a person’s stomach through an advanced suturing process – no surgical incision required. Later this week, researchers will present the first data on longer term […]
May 4, 2019 — My, how things have changed. Barely more than a decade ago, the dominant drugs for type 2 diabetes caused weight gain. Most big pharma companies were cutting obesity research. Eli Lilly and Sanofi were riding high in diabetes care and turning up their noses at obesity. But now the tables have turned. Sanofi’s diabetes business […]
April 30, 2019 — You might think that childhood obesity is a subject that draws a lot of sympathy from the public. You would be wrong. Today at the 26th European Congress on Obesity, we presented new data on a huge gap in the public understanding of severe obesity in young children. Even in young children, our data shows […]
April 17, 2019 — Noom is an app and a program that climbed into the top trends for diet and nutrition searches on Google in 2018. So now it’s putting considerable pressure on the old guard of the diet industry at a time when consumers have very mixed feelings about that business. Weight Watchers is now WW – Wellness […]
April 12, 2019 — It’s been a long road for Intercept Pharmaceuticals to develop an important advance for treating NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis). Five years ago this little startup company shocked the world when a monitoring board stopped a placebo-controlled study because their drug (obeticholic acid or OCA) had worked so well. A final round of 64 liver biopsies were […]
March 29, 2019 — Are you ready for vegetables by prescription? That’s what nutrition policy wonks are pushing with a new publication in PLOS Medicine. Yujin Lee, a postdoctoral fellow and lead author, sums up their bold claims: We found that encouraging people to eat healthy foods in Medicare and Medicaid – healthy food prescriptions – could be as […]
March 17, 2019 — Prescription drug prices are under the microscope again and the intense scrutiny is unlikely to fade anytime soon. That’s because those prices are hurting people who need the drugs. The prime example of unaffordable drugs is insulin. In the short time between 2012 and 2016 alone, costs of insulin almost doubled. Some patients who need […]
March 13, 2019 — Precision nutrition is a concept with an almost irresistible allure. It borrows on the cachet of precision medicine. On top of that, frustration with the presently imprecise nature of nutrition science makes the promise of precision personalized diets especially appealing. So in pursuit of this idea, a new study in Nutrients offers some tantalizing clues. […]
March 3, 2019 — Siri, what should I eat? Well, that cheesecake looks good. In the New York Times today, Cardiologist Eric Topol explains that artificial intelligence (A.I.) tells him cheesecake and brats get an A+ for his personalized nutrition needs. In contrast, oatmeal and squash get a C-. But there’s just one problem. Topol likes the oatmeal and […]
January 22, 2019 — Is this a millennial dream? Or instead, a caricature? Recess is coming at us with a distinctive vibe for sparkling water – infusing it with hemp extract and “adaptogens.” The brand promises balance and clarity. Can this be what’s replacing soda for generations to come? Tapping All the Trends In case you haven’t noticed, big soda’s […]
