December 10, 2024 — A pitched battle is underway. The fight is for equitable access to obesity medicines that can be life-changing for people living with obesity. Right now, we have a bit of a stalemate and money is the sticking point. So when Andrew Ross Sorkin put the question of greed, economics, and health to the CEO of […]
December 9, 2024 — Eat healthy and get your exercise. It is a straightforward framework for dealing with obesity. But that simple prescription of diet and exercise for preventing obesity overlooks a critical factor – the prolonged sitting time very often required by work and school. A recent study of data from young adult twins showed that sitting time […]
December 3, 2024 — “This seems like a landmark paper in my books and a call from the other side of the energy balance equation. We seem built to be a highly physically active species, not sedentary office workers and couch dwellers.” With these words, Professor Emeritus Jennie Brand-Miller seized our attention today. She was writing about a new […]
December 2, 2024 — The drumbeat is growing louder. “Public health policies to reduce ultra-processed food intake cannot wait.” These words from Mathilde Touvier summed up her presentation of evidence on these foods from epidemiologic and public health studies at Imperial College London last week. She opened six hours of scholars, politicians, and advocates presenting a compelling case. Clearly, […]
November 29, 2024 — “Taxes on sweetened beverages have become a litmus test in public health: if you are concerned about rapidly increasing global rates of obesity, you should favor them.” This truth telling comes from a new commentary in JAMA Pediatrics. So we are happy to acknowledge the radiant sincerity of those who believe in taxing soda. But […]
November 28, 2024 — Nope. We didn’t get our way on everything this year. But it’s not too hard to count up reasons for feeling grateful as we start this day of Thanksgiving. Of course, we have personal reasons for feeling gratitude – health, happiness, friends, family, and the privilege of serving a purpose beyond ourselves. More specifically, though, […]
November 27, 2024 — Yesterday, Amgen released topline data on their remarkable monthly obesity medicine – MariTide or maridebart cafraglutide. To us, the results are impressive, albeit preliminary. In 52 weeks of study, patients with obesity or overweight lost approximately 20% of their initial body weight and even after a year, they appeared to still be losing weight. For […]
November 26, 2024 — Well, this is exciting. The news just flashed across our screen that the outgoing Biden administration is proposing to open up Medicare and Medicaid to coverage for obesity meds. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services, said: “We don’t want to see people having to wait until they have these additional diseases […]
November 26, 2024 — For the second time this year, we have a meta-analysis of RCTs with GLP-1 medicines that affirms cardiorenal benefits in outcome studies. This latest study appears in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. Lead author Sunil Badve described the importance of his analysis: “This is the first study to show a clear benefit of GLP-1 receptor agonists […]
November 25, 2024 — A new study presented at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Gastroenterology tells us receiving a GLP-1 for diabetes with or without obesity is associated with a halving of pancreatic cancer risk. Is this too good to be true? Observational, of Course The first thing to note is that the finding comes […]
