Posts Tagged ‘innovation’

Healthy lifestyles are a popular concept. But popular culture is fickle about this subject. As soon as something captures our attention in this realm, it quickly fades from view. So as we plunge into a new year, let’s take a quick look at what’s hot and what’s not, according to the culture that surrounds us. […]

Apollo Endosurgery is selling off the Lap-Band just five years after they bought it. This news is the latest chapter in a long story of what might have been. In 2013, Apollo bought this device from Allergan for $75 million in cash up front. Stock and contingencies meant that the price could have gone as […]

Two recent articles have us thinking about the harm that might come from hanging on to weak dietary advice. One is all about salt. The other is about dairy fat. But underneath it all is core problem. Some of the dietary advice taken as gospel is grounded in associations and suppositions. It never goes through […]

2018 is quickly fading into history. All in all, it’s been a year of some remarkable progress in obesity and health. Much of it is steady and encouraging. More healthcare providers building skill in obesity care. Less explicit weight bias. More options and a little less misinformation about obesity. Those are some of the good […]

It’s all over, but the music is still playing. ObesityWeek 2018 came to a close and people dodged snow and plane delays to return home on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So we’ll leave you with a few arbitrary thoughts about some of the highlights. 1. Blackburn Symposium It was the latest installment in the seemingly endless […]

ObesityWeek 2018 comes just as we are starting to see serious innovation in obesity drugs at long last. After a few flashy launches that went nowhere, we’re seeing more solid progress from Novo Nordisk and even Eisai. Obesity medicine physicians are bringing obesity meds into comprehensive care for obesity. And some exciting new drugs are […]

In an editorial for JAMA this week, Frank Hu and Walter Willett tell us they have a clear view of the future for nutrition research. We’ve broken the bonds of biochemistry, animal models, and feeding studies. Biomarkers are nice, but at best they can only complement – not replace – dietary self reports. Thanks to […]

To improve the quality, access, and utilization of preventive and treatment services for obesity among both children and adults, a group of innovative payers have agreed to take action on a national scale. The My Healthy Weight pledge is a first. It’s the first and only collective initiative offering insurance benefits covering obesity prevention and […]

New research from the University of Sydney is offering another clue for developing the science of personalized nutrition. Starch is the most common carbohydrate in our diets. And we have an enzyme in our saliva – amylase – that helps us start digesting starch even before we eat it. But different people will have very different responses […]

Our society seems to have accepted that gaining weight is an inevitable consequence of growing up in a place with easy access to calories and where physical activity plays a declining role in our professional and private lives. Aging just makes weight loss even more difficult. In the short term, the consequences of excess weight […]