Posts Tagged ‘obesity’

Since forever we have known that obesity is a highly heritable disease. Genes are important, though not solely determinative. They set the table for obesity, but for the most part, it is the environment that serves it up. That’s because the genetic basis for obesity usually comes from multiple genes, not a single gene. So […]

It’s no secret that Novo Nordisk is in something of a funk. In the last year, the value of the company has dropped by half. Its respected leader, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, stepped down suddenly in May. Lilly has taken the lead in the obesity market from semaglutide with its own tirzepatide, and numerous competitors are […]

Six months have passed since the Lancet Commission on the definition of clinical obesity aimed to “settle the ongoing dispute around the idea of obesity as a disease.” At the time, we had doubts about this new definition “settling” disputes about defining obesity. Indeed, we have seen lots of vigorous discussion, but not a lot […]

Retatrutide is that impressively potent obesity medicine that teased us with remarkable weight loss outcomes back in 2023. As we wait for pivotal phase three data (now due later this year), we wonder about the risk for muscle loss with a drug that has the potency of retatrutide. A new paper in Lancet Diabetes & […]

“This study confirms what I’ve been saying, which is that diet is the key culprit in our current epidemic,” says Barry Popkin. He’s talking about a new study in PNAS. With a giant leap of faith, one can use this study for a perfect expression of confirmation bias about the role of diet and exercise […]

At ENDO2025 Saturday, we got a fresh view of the future that lies ahead for medical and surgical obesity care. In a sharp contrast to either/or constructs that pit medical and surgical care as rivals, endocrinology fellow Angela Rao presented data pointing to complementary roles for medical and surgical obesity care. Analyzing data from 846 […]

Nudging the behavior of consumers seems like an appealing strategy for overcoming the rise in obesity and the harm it is causing to population health. Apply a little behavioral psychology and voilà! People make healthier choices. The appeal is so strong that the UK government is counting on supermarket nudges to overcome obesity and save […]

A new scientific statement from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) marks a milestone in acknowledging the importance of treating obesity in patients with heart failure. It seems that cardiologists see the light and are recognizing the importance of moving beyond diet and lifestyle advice alone. The statement concludes: “Given emerging evidence of the benefits […]

A new review in Nutrition & Diabetes marks an effort to get serious about lifting an important concept – food noise – out of the realm of inane pop diet chatter. Emily Dhurandhar and colleagues take care in defining food noise: “The formal definition of food noise is persistent thoughts about food that are perceived […]

Half a year has passed since the Lancet Commission on Clinical Obesity published its attempt to build a global consensus around a definition for obesity that distinguishes clinically significant obesity from preclinical obesity. Three new publications in Annals of Internal Medicine make it clear that this task is incomplete. Despite heroic efforts, consensus for distinguishing […]