December 14, 2024 — Let’s be quite clear. This is encouraging news, but it is nothing more than a glimmer of a possibility that there is a drop in U.S. obesity prevalence showing up in 2023. The data come from electronic health records. From a sample of 16,743,822 U.S. adults, Benjamin Rader, Rebecca Hazan, and John Brownstein analyzed 47,939,382 […]
November 21, 2024 — Is the glass half full? Or 99% empty? The metaphorical glass in this case is the number of people with a legitimate indication for the remarkable prescription drug generically known as semaglutide. Ivy Shi et al presented an elegant answer at the AHA Scientific Sessions this week and simultaneously published it in JAMA Cardiology. They […]
November 12, 2024 — For several years now it has been apparent that success in reducing deaths due to cardiovascular disease has slowed or stopped. This is part of the story of declining U.S. life expectancy that headlines often overlook. New research at the upcoming AHA Scientific Sessions tells us rising obesity might explain much of this trend. In […]
October 18, 2024 — We are seeing a subtle, but important shift in the way scholars of population health are looking at obesity and the people it affects. At one time, the implicit bias was to discount those who already have the disease. There’s little we can do for them was the thought behind this. Sometimes it was even […]
September 24, 2024 — This is a milestone we’ve been anticipating. New NHANES data on obesity are out and they mark a shift in the dynamics of obesity rates. We now have data to suggest that the overall rate of obesity – which has been climbing relentlessly for four decades – appears to be leveling out at about 40%. […]
August 28, 2024 — Type 2 diabetes prevalence is up and the Lancet Regional Health has a simple way to reduce it. Daniel Windred and colleagues write: “Advising people to turn off their lights at night, or use lights that reduce the circadian impact (dim and “warm” light), is a simple, cost-effective, and easily-implementable recommendation that may promote cardiometabolic […]
June 26, 2024 — One of the four dimensions that sum to a terrible problem of inadequate scale in obesity care is cost. Right now, the list prices for obesity medicines like semaglutide and tirzepatide in the U.S. put them out of reach for all but the wealthy and the well-insured. So will it help that a generic GLP-1 agonist – […]
June 15, 2024 — For decades now, thinking about obesity that pits treatment against prevention has hampered efforts to “tackle” obesity. At the Boston Course in Obesity Medicine yesterday, ConscienHealth founder Ted Kyle examined this either/or thinking and suggested it is a mistake. In fact, it is becoming apparent that obesity care is a critical tool for prevention of […]
April 27, 2024 — To open Obesity Medicine 2024 yesterday, David Arterburn presented a brilliant perspective on the radical paradigm shift and price wars that lie ahead in obesity care. Along the way, he explained how he believes that better obesity medicines can help meet a fundament goal of healthcare: to improve population health. He described the future of […]
December 12, 2023 — An amicable discussion about evidence for the effectiveness of soft drink taxes can be, well, somewhat taxing. Scientists with genuine curiosity about this subject often seem harder to find than true believers. But disappointment has come for those true believers. Because some of the evidence to back their firm beliefs in soft drink taxes recently […]
