February 7, 2019 — Why does bariatric surgery have such a profound effect on diabetes? It’s more than you might expect simply from the effects on weight. A large portion of patients with diabetes and obesity have remissions after surgery. Even before they lose much weight. New research in Cell Reports this week points to GLP-1 secretion as a […]
February 4, 2019 — Three years ago, 45 global organizations endorsed guidelines recommending metabolic surgery to reverse type 2 diabetes. At about the same time the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a big expansion of the Diabetes Prevention Program with great fanfare. But today, very few of the patients who could benefit from either of these options […]
February 3, 2019 — We like to be optimistic. In many, many ways, things are getting better for dealing with obesity. Science is giving us a much better understanding of the physiology of this disease. AMA and medical organizations all over the world recognize it a chronic disease, not evidence of some sort of character flaw. And treatment options […]
January 18, 2019 — “An insidious scourge that has nothing to do with with head trauma is ravaging retired N.F.L. players,” says Ken Belson in the New York Times. It’s a sensational opening and a catastrophizing angle on NFL obesity. But unfortunately, Belson offers more sensation than insight. Plus an unhealthy, heaping dose of stigma. “Huge Men Unable to […]
January 12, 2019 — In a most compelling way, Tommy Tomlinson describes his lifetime of experiences facing obesity: Losing weight is a f***ing rock fight. The enemies come from all sides: The deluge of marketing telling us to eat worse and eat more. The culture that has turned food into one of the last acceptable vices. Our families and […]
January 6, 2019 — Mindfulness has become a pop culture buzzword. Apparently, it’s useful for selling everything from beer to wellness. Headline writers tell us that mindfulness helps engineers solve problems, eases stress and depression, helps people in a war zone, and causes worry for conservative Christians. We even have a mindful brewpub nearby. But our focus is nutrition, […]
December 30, 2018 — The expectations are high. We are seeing some tantalizing research on the potential benefits of intermittent fasting. But as yet, we’re not seeing much in the way of definitive data on its effectiveness for delivering objective clinical outcomes. In fact, the latest controlled clinical trial paints the picture of a rather mundane miracle. In a […]
December 28, 2018 — As 2018 winds down, we have a chance to gratefully reflect on the fact that more than 100,000 users took the time to read some of the content we provided this year. No, this is surely not the New York Times. We admit that we have a very narrow focus. But given this narrow focus, […]
December 20, 2018 — Apollo Endosurgery is selling off the Lap-Band just five years after they bought it. This news is the latest chapter in a long story of what might have been. In 2013, Apollo bought this device from Allergan for $75 million in cash up front. Stock and contingencies meant that the price could have gone as […]
December 14, 2018 — A new research letter in JAMA Surgery spells it out. After facing bias and stigma for having obesity, people who seek out the most effective treatment available – bariatric surgery – face public scorn for it. Patrick Dolan and colleagues found that 39 percent of American adults believe that bariatric surgery is “an easy way […]
