Surgical study highlights pros and cons of gastric bypass surgery for severe obesity
November 18, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Severely obese patients who underwent two different gastric bypass techniques had lost up to 31 per cent of their Body Mass Index (BMI) after four years, with no deaths reported among the 50 study subjects, according to the November issue of the British Journal of Surgery.
New promising obesity drug may have huge potential
October 23, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
According to trials, a new obesity drug, Tesofensine, which may be launched on the world market in a few years, can produce weight loss twice that of currently approved obesity drugs. The Danish company Neurosearch and a number of researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen are behind the promising findings.
Scientists find a potential treatment to prevent diabetes and obesity
October 17, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
A molecule called interleukin-6 has opened new doors for the creation of new drugs against obesity and diabetes. These are the conclusions of an international project which has had the participation of researchers from Vitagenes, a company which forms part of the Campus program promoted by the University of Granada (UGR) and situated in the Technological Park of Health Sciences (PTS).
Research team discovers brain pathway responsible for obesity
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight.
Reported in the Oct. 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings–from a study in mice–point to a completely new approach to treating and preventing obesity in humans. The discovery also offers hope for new ways to treat related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases–the most prevalent health problems in the United States and the rest of the developed world.
Researchers suppress ‘hunger hormone’
September 16, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
New minimally invasive method tested in pigs yields result as good as bariatric surgery
Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach. An estimated 90 percent of the body’s ghrelin originates in the fundus, which can’t make the hormone without a good blood supply.
Addiction drug reverses obesity in rats
August 26, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
An epilepsy drug being tested for use in treating addiction can help obese rats shed weight, U.S. government researchers said on Wednesday.
Their findings point not only to an easy treatment for obesity, but show it is similar to drug addiction, they said.
Gene sequence that can make half of us fatter is discovered
May 4, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
A gene sequence linked to an expanding waist line, weight gain and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes has been discovered as part of a study published today in the journal Nature Genetics.
The study also shows that the gene sequence is significantly more common in those with Indian Asian than European ancestry. The research, which was funded by the British Heart Foundation, could lead to better ways of treating obesity.
Targeting gut bugs could revolutionize future drugs, say researcher
February 1, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Revolutionary new ways to tackle certain diseases could be provided by creating drugs which change the bugs in people’s guts, according to a Perspective article published today in the journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
How does insulin influence resistin?
January 16, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Obesity is a worldwide health problem directly linked to several diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Resistin is a cysteine-rich hormone mainly secreted by adipose tissues and may form a biochemical link between obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Experimental weight-loss drug cuts appetite, burns more energy
January 8, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
The first clinical studies of an experimental drug have revealed that obese people who take it for 12 weeks lose weight, even at very low doses. Short-term studies also suggest that the drug, called taranabantthe second drug designed to fight obesity by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the braincauses people to consume fewer calories and burn more, researchers report in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press. Cannabinoid receptors are responsible for the psychological effects of marijuana (Cannabis sativa), and natural endocannabinoids are important regulators of energy balance.
