July 8, 2021 — This is seriously messed up. Let’s consider the case of two innovative new drugs and how health insurance will cover them. Each of them treats a chronic disease that can devastate a person’s health and quality of life. But these are different diseases and very different drugs. One offers a breakthrough in effectiveness. In fact, […]
July 6, 2021 — Cambridge Professor Sadaf Farooqi calls it a tour de force of genetics. Researchers from Regeneron and nine international research centers sequenced genetic exomes in 645,626 persons. With this painstaking research, they’ve found genetic sequences that protect some people from obesity. These sequences hard wire a person for leanness. In a world that prizes a lean […]
June 30, 2021 — “After 24 hours, the participants indicated that they occasionally felt embarrassed, self-conscious, and that life, in general, was less satisfying.” Nonetheless, researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand think they have an “attractive alternative” for weight loss. It’s a dental device with magnets. It attaches to a person’s teeth to prevent them from […]
June 8, 2021 — The mantra for the Wegovy brand of semaglutide just approved by FDA for obesity is clear enough – game changer. Great. Obesity is not a game, but health plans treat it like a 19th century game of hot potato: “Jack’s alive, and likely to live If he dies in your hand, you’ve a forfeit to […]
June 5, 2021 — Experts labeled it as a gamechanger months ago. So it is certainly good news to see semaglutide approved by FDA, now with a brand name, Wegovy. With good reason, people see this new drug as something that can bring radical progress to treating obesity. On average, it’s more effective than other drugs for obesity. Compared […]
May 25, 2021 — Obesity comes largely from an inheritance of susceptibility. But this fact is a challenge for many people to accept. Instead, they insist on explaining obesity and health as the result of choices and merit. Good choices beget good health. Bioethics professor Lisa Parker suggests that we give up some of these myths of merit and […]
May 22, 2021 — Anyone following the news on progress with anti-obesity meds might have noticed a rising number of news reports about various “tides” for obesity. Liraglutide is already out there. So is setmelanotide. Semaglutide injection is under review at FDA and approval is possible as early as the middle of this year. Tirzepatide is advancing in clinical […]
May 20, 2021 — The big meeting of gastroenterology – DDW – happens online this weekend. It’s doesn’t typically offer a lot on obesity science and clinical care. But this year, the meeting has a fascinating peek at the potential for pairing endoscopy with semaglutide. News in advance of the meeting suggests this pairing might produce clinical results that […]
May 17, 2021 — At the height of the pandemic in 2020, mindfulness had quite a moment. In some corners of the world, the peak of the pandemic may have passed. Has the peak of interest in mindfulness passed, too? If our searches on Google are any indication, this may be the case. Perhaps people are more interested in […]
May 1, 2021 — During the pandemic, telemedicine visits grew from 0.15 percent of all visits to 13 percent. That’s a big increase – almost 100-fold – from a very small base. But the real question is will this new habit stick? As with many ways we adapted, telemedicine has some advantages. Especially in obesity care, telemedicine seems to […]
