Posts Tagged ‘research’

The award for the most annoying obesity story of the week goes to the Flinders University communications office. They win for issuing a press release to hype some genuinely interesting research. But the angle they chose made a joke of the research, spawning headlines about a new gene to cure obesity. Their headline: Gene that lets […]

We have not heard the last of an intense and seemingly bitter debate about the role carbs and insulin play in promoting obesity. At ObesityWeek, David Ludwig and Kevin Hall sparred about a new publication by Ludwig and colleagues. Letters to the editor of the BMJ are keeping that hot debate going. At the core […]

The idea that obesity is contagious is a “brilliant analogy,” says a distinguished professor of pediatrics, Leonard Epstein. More and more research supports this view. But the ideas about contagion require careful thinking in this context. Thinking about transmitting obesity from one person to another is not especially helpful. What’s more relevant is thinking about […]

“Those among us who are unwilling to expose their ideas to the hazard of refutation do not take part in the scientific game.” Thus wrote Karl Popper in 1934. But these lofty words don’t protect us from the hazard of confirmation bias. It really hurts when a big, expensive trial does not confirm an important […]

The curious case of the missing workplace teaspoons Once upon a time, a group of disheartened scientists found their tearoom bereft of teaspoons. Despite dispatching a research assistant to go purchase more – so sugar could be stirred and coffee dispensed – the newly purchased teaspoons disappeared within a few short months. Exasperated by the […]

ObesityWeek brings together diverse perspectives – scientists, clinicians, and public health professionals. We heard from all of them last week. “Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes work,” a number of public health folks told us. “For their intended purpose. To reduce unhealthy beverage consumption.” That last bit provides the important fine print. Taxes on SSBs are spreading all over […]

Let’s face it, scientific papers aren’t exactly page turners. They are written by scientists, for scientists, and often in a language that seems to only vaguely resemble English. And perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of a scientific paper is the statistics (“stats”) section. But what do stats really mean in the real world? […]

It’s a recurring frustration. Science is a difficult process of stepwise efforts to uncover the truth. We never get it all at once. And then – especially when the subject is obesity and nutrition – a battle of headlines vs science emerges. Yesterday, this frustration was on vivid display in a packed lecture hall at ObesityWeek. On […]

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 […]

It’s just a week away: ObesityWeek 2018 in Nashville. Some of the brightest minds and most interesting people working on obesity will all be in one place. So grab the OW2018 app and plan ahead. It will come and go in a flash. Here are a few things to look for. We’re calling it a […]