Scientists Seek Origins Of Obesity In The Womb
She went on to have two daughters, and she may have boosted their chances of avoiding becoming obese, like her two older children are.
Thats the implication of research suggesting that something in an obese womans womb can program her fetus toward becoming a fat child and adult. Its not about simply passing along genes that promote obesity; its some sort of still-mysterious signal.
The idea has only recently entered conversations between doctors and female patients, and scientists are scrambling to track down a biological explanation. That knowledge, in turn, may provide new ways to block obesity from crossing generations.
While theres some [...]
Novo Nordisk Drug Helps Healthy Lose Weight, Axe Blood Pressure
The study involving 564 people found just five months of liraglutide injections shaved 4.8 kilograms (10.6 pounds) to 7.2 kilograms from their frames, compared with 4.1 kilograms for those on Xenical and 2.8 kilograms for those given placebo.
The research suggests that liraglutide may be more effective than currently available treatments for obesity. About half of Europeans and two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and 30 percent are considered obese, studies show. Few treatments are available. Novo Nordisk, based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, funded the research that appears in [...]
Being Overweight Can Axe Womens Life Expectancy
For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 percent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined “healthy survival” as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs.
Experts consider people with a BMI between 19-25 to be healthy, while those from 25 to 30 are considered overweight and those over 30 are obese.
For every 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) gained since age 18, womens odds of [...]
Soft-drink Tax Might Pare Waistlines, Cover Health-care Costs
If sugar-sweetened beverages from makers including Coca- Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. were taxed at that rate, the U.S. could raise $14.9 billion in the first year, according to the article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The tax would also encourage people to cut back on soft drinks, cutting their daily calorie intake by at least 10 percent, the authors said.
The rate of obesity, a major cause of diabetes, stroke, and heart attacks, has more than doubled in the last 30 years, according to [...]
Fight Obesity? Add Sales Tax to Soda Tab
Proposals for a hefty soda tax though have repeatedly fallen flat. The idea was even floated as a way to help pay for health care reform, but government officials on Wednesday said thats not likely to happen.
The experts plan was released by the influential New England Journal of Medicine, in a health policy article by Arkansas surgeon general, New York Citys health commissioner and five national experts on health and economics.
A soda tax would generate tax revenue while discouraging people from consuming extra calories, the authors contend. They cited a series of studies that showed higher rates of obesity and [...]
Obesity Medical Costs Balloon to $147 Billion, Study Finds
Each obese patient costs health insurers and government programs $1,429, or 42 percent, more a year than a normal-weight individual in 2006, according to the analysis of health expenses released today by the journal Health Affairs. In 1998, the medical costs of obesity were estimated to have reached $78.5 billion.
President Barack Obama has said his administration wants to control the rising cost of health care in part through preventive medicine programs, such as those to help people lose weight or quit smoking. Medicare, the government run [...]
Almost 10 Points Of Health Spending For Obesity
The higher expense reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments far more common for the overweight, concluded the study by government scientists and the nonprofit research group RTI International.
RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health care system: “Unless you address obesity, youre never going to address rising health care costs.”
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and the average American today is 23 pounds overweight, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Obesity and with it diabetes are the only major [...]
Blacks Are Most Obese Group, Study Finds
About 29 percent of Hispanics and 24 percent of whites are obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Overall, about 26 percent of U.S. adults are obese.
Racial differences in obesity rates have been reported before, and health officials were not surprised to see larger proportions of blacks tipping the scales.
But the new CDC report is the first to look at the gap state-by-state, finding blacks had significantly higher obesity rates in 21 states and somewhat higher rates in many others.
Experts believe there are several reasons for the differences. People with lower incomes often have less access to [...]
Swine Flu Packs Bigger Jolt For Obese as Striking Link Discovered
Nine of 10 patients with the pandemic flu strain admitted to an intensive care unit at Ann Arbor from late May to early June, were obese and seven were “extremely obese,” with a body mass index of at least 40, doctors said. Three of the 10 died and seven had no other known health problems.
The study, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report yesterday, supports a pattern seen by doctors tracking the pandemic in hospital reports from Glasgow to Melbourne and from Santiago to New York. [...]
No Scars: New Obesity Surgery Goes Through Mouth
Doctors say preliminary results from about 200 U.S. patients and 100 in Europe look promising.
After about 18 months, obese European patients have lost an average of about 45 percent of their body weight, said Dr. Gregg Nishi, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He discussed the European and U.S. studies during a Chicago conference this week for digestive disease specialists.
The procedure is only being done in the studies, which recently ended enrollment. Makers of the device used in the operation plan to seek federal approval if the research continues to go as planned.
While the two studies are [...]