Posts Tagged ‘innovation’

We call it stealth progress. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals last week gained approval from FDA for a priority review of setmelanotide for rare genetic forms of obesity in children. The indications are for obesity treatment in POMC and LEPR deficiency. Furthermore, the FDA has indicated it doesn’t plan to hold a public hearing on this drug This […]

We’re in the midst of a health crisis. And yet, oddly enough, healthcare has come to a halt in many ways. Dental offices are closed. People are staying away from their doctors. Emergency rooms are deadly quiet. Outside of the intense activity required to save the lives of people suffering severe encounters with COVID-19, healthcare […]

Yesterday the process of a slow reveal began. Novo Nordisk released the first pivotal results in studies of semaglutide for obesity. This new drug, already available for diabetes, has potential to bring us closer to truly effective obesity treatment without surgery. This was merely a first glimpse – topline results from only one of four […]

While the world has been busy with COVID-19, quite a lot has been happening in obesity. Last week, JAMA Pediatrics published an important review of all the evidence-based options for treating obesity in adolescents. The bottom line? Those options are too few, but more are coming. Today, we got a good look at one of […]

Through the last four decades of relentlessly rising obesity, we’ve had two clinical strategies in play. The first approach – arguably dominant – has been to overlook obesity and merely treat the complications as they appear. The other is intensive behavioral treatment. But clearly, neither of these have been adequate. The burden of chronic diseases […]

Why do we have so much obesity? One possible answer is evolution. By this, we don’t mean human evolution. Rather, we mean commercial evolution – of an obesogenic food supply. Many have suggested that the problem lies with addictive foods. Michael Moss tells a slick story about the evil food industry engineering hyperpalatable food that […]

The decade just past brought quite a bit of change in drugs used to treat obesity. At the beginning of the decade, options were few. Prescribing was almost nil. Now we have five new drugs for obesity. For type 2 diabetes, weight-sparing drugs have taken a dominant role in prescribing. One of those drugs, liraglutide, […]

No doubt, you’ve heard the warnings. Beware of ultra-processed food. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. Look for foods with 5 ingredients or fewer. But non-meat meat is hot right now. So we have to wonder. Do consumers care about what’s in fake meat? Well, new consumer research is in, and the answer […]

We’re nearing the end of diet season, but permanent weight loss puffery isn’t going anywhere. It used to be that promising permanent weight loss would land you in trouble with the FTC. But somehow, the upstart Noom is making a business of it. Much to the dismay of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers), the Noom […]

This is the prime season for the fitness industry. January is the biggest month of the year for new memberships. But 80 percent of those new members will quit within five months. And the steady members don’t like it. Things get crowded, people get cranky. Nonetheless, January fitness money talks. What’s can a fitness business […]