Men of science have discovered a protein that could be involved in the growing of type 2 diabetes mellitus, a discovery that may lead to fresh medications to fight this developing worldwide scourge.
This same team of research workers recently demonstrated that inhibiting this nerve tract acted to block pain affiliated with gouty arthritis, an inflammatory case affecting the joints.
Inflaming also plays a scaled role in diabetes mellitus.
The writers of this research, released online December 21 in Nature Immunology, commenced their exploration with the NLRP3 inflammasome, which has been associated with dissimilar inflammatory disorders. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec
24
The Food and Drug Administration is regarding amplifying the use of cholesterin depressing statin Crestor to those who have multiplied rates of inflammation—just not high cholesterol. The authority acted one step nearer on Tuesday later on a consultative panel voted twelve to four (with one abstinence) to okay Crestor for this amplified use, which may open the door for 6.5 million more American People to take lipid-lowering medications.
Have lipid-lowering medicines substituted aspirin as the fresh wonder medication? Read the rest of this entry »
Experts from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee are set to review the safety and efficacy of a weight loss pill made by Sanofi-Aventis in a meeting tomorrow.
The pill, which contains the active ingredient rimonabant was approved last year in Europe where it sells under the brand name Accomplia. If approved in the US it will be marketed as Zimulti.
Rimonabant is a cannabinoid receptor antagonist; that is it blocks the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors in the brain that control hunger. So taking the drug reduces hunger and suppresses appetite. The drug may also help to control the urge to smoke, but approval is not being sought for this use.
As with all drug safety and efficacy reviews, the purpose of the panel meeting is to weigh up the benefits against the risks. On the benefits side there is now evidence that the 20 milligram a day version of Zimulti helped people to lose weight and reduce levels blood sugar, cholesterol, and fats.
On the risks side, the manufacturer has submitted results of clinical trials that showed an elevated risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts in patients who took Zimulti compared to those who took a placebo. Read the rest of this entry »
Weight loss may decrease the severity of cellulite for some women – but may worsen the condition for others, reports a study in August’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
“Approximately 85 percent of women are affected by cellulite,” said John Kitzmiller, MD, ASPS Member Surgeon and study co-author. “Cellulite is not specific to overweight people, but excess weight may worsen the condition. We found that weight loss in overweight patients improved the appearance of cellulite, but for a few, it actually worsened the condition.”
The study examined 29 women who enrolled in medically supervised weight loss programs including low-fat meals, liquid diets, medication, and bariatric surgery. Seventeen patients experienced an improvement in the appearance of their cellulite, while 9 worsened. The average weight loss was 30.5 pounds (range 2.3 – 102 pounds). Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
26
The grapefruit diet is not a myth. That’s what a new study by the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic confirmed. Researchers there found that the simple act of adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to one’s diet can result in weight loss.
The 12-week pilot study, led by Dr. Ken Fujioka, monitored weight and metabolic factors, such as insulin secretion, of the 100 men and women who participated in the Scripps Clinic ‘Grapefruit Diet’ study.
On average, participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost 3.6 pounds, while those who drank a serving of grapefruit juice three times a day lost 3.3 pounds. However, many patients in the study lost more than 10 pounds.
‘For years people have talked about the grapefruit diet, and some even swear by it, but now, we have data that grapefruit helps weight loss,’ said Dr. Fujioka, principal researcher at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic.
‘Our study participants maintained their daily eating habits and slightly enhanced their exercise routine; the only dietary change was the intake of Florida grapefruit and grapefruit juice.’ Read the rest of this entry »
The importance of pre-operative screening for patients seeking body contouring after massive weight loss will be assessed in three studies presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2008 conference, Oct. 31 – Nov. 5, in Chicago. These studies examine demographic factors that could affect complication rates; specifically, those who have not yet attained their goal body mass index (BMI); those who lost weight through diet and exercise and those who are male.
“With the rapid increase in obesity rates in the U.S. and, subsequently, more people losing large amounts of weight, we are seeing more patients who want body contouring following massive weight loss,” said J. Peter Rubin, MD, Chair of the ASPS Post-Bariatric Task Force and co-author of the studies. “Because of this, the need to examine various demographics for differences in how these patients tolerate surgery is ever important to guarantee appropriate patient selection, safety and optimal results.”
The first study looked at 449 patients to see if having body contouring surgery while still obese and prior to reaching goal BMI would affect complication rates. The study found being obese did increase surgery complication rates for single body contouring procedures.
“As patient safety advocates, plastic surgeons should counsel their patients to wait for body contouring surgery until they reach their goal BMI,” said Dr. Rubin. “Body contouring yields excellent results in the appropriate patient. If waiting a little longer means ensuring safe surgery, then it’s worth it.” Read the rest of this entry »
Medical researchers from Dubai reported in the April ‘09 edition of the Middle East Journal of Family Medicine (The Effect of The ALCAT Test Diet Therapy for Food Sensitivity in Patient’s With Obesity) that patients unable to achieve goal weight loss by calorie restriction alone were significantly aided in their attempts when they avoided foods that had been shown by a unique lab test to excite their immune response. The authors, led by Dr. M. Akmal of the Dubai Specialized Medical Centre, pointed out that hidden food allergies, or food sensitivities, are unique to each individual and can cause inflammatory diseases, and an inability to lose weight. Food sensitivities often provoke delayed and chronic symptoms, like IBS, migraine and arthritis, that are not as obvious as the dramatic and immediate onset of “true” food allergies, such as peanut anaphylaxis, but, over the long term, can be just as devastating and are more difficult to detect.
In the course of the 12 week study, the 27 refractory weight loss patients underwent a single treatment: avoidance of foods that were shown to be immune reactive according to blood testing through a system known as the ALCAT test. The study participants showed an average weight loss of approximately 37 pounds plus an average drop of six points of BMI (body mass index) and an average decrease of 30% of body fat.
Dr. Fred Pescatore, former Medical Director of the famed Atkins Center and a pioneer in the study of the hormonal and immune system effects of foods, reviewed the findings and said, “I’m not surprised by these results, dramatic as they may appear. I’ve used the ALCAT test with my difficult patients time and time again, and it always works.” Read the rest of this entry »
While improving your self-esteem and lowering your pants size are significant benefits of weight-loss surgery, the health benefits can be dramatic. Nick Nicholson, M.D., weight loss surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, explains how the surgery can actually improve certain health conditions.
- Reversal of Type 2 diabetes “Because obesity is the primary risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, weight-loss surgery can have a profound impact on the condition,” says Dr. Nicholson. Published in the March 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, a study revealed that 82 percent of patients who had weight-loss surgery reversed their diabetes in less than two years, and 62 percent remained diabetes free two years following surgery.
- Improved fertility Although most obese women are not infertile, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, ovulatory functions and pregnancy rates frequently improve significantly after weight loss in obese women. Read the rest of this entry »
A scientific review in April’s Nutrition Reviews shows that a vegetarian diet is highly effective for weight loss. Vegetarian populations tend to be slimmer than meat-eaters, and they experience lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening conditions linked to overweight and obesity. The new review, compiling data from 87 previous studies, shows the weight-loss effect does not depend on exercise or calorie-counting, and it occurs at a rate of approximately 1 pound per week.
Rates of obesity in the general population are skyrocketing, while in vegetarians, obesity prevalence ranges from 0 percent to 6 percent, note study authors Susan E. Berkow, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Neal D. Barnard, M.D., of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
The authors found that the body weight of both male and female vegetarians is, on average, 3 percent to 20 percent lower than that of meat-eaters. Vegetarian and vegan diets have also been put to the test in clinical studies, as the review notes. The best of these clinical studies isolated the effects of diet by keeping exercise constant. The researchers found that a low-fat vegan diet leads to weight loss of about 1 pound per week, even without additional exercise or limits on portion sizes, calories, or carbohydrates. Read the rest of this entry »
In a recent study, Saint Louis University researchers found that weight loss of at least 9 percent helped patients reverse a type of liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a finding that will allow doctors to give patients specific weight-loss goals that are likely to improve their livers. The finding comes from a study of the diet drug orlistat (also known as Xenical and Alli), which did not itself improve liver disease.
Brent Neuschwander-Tetri, M.D., a hepatologist at Saint Louis University Liver Center and study researcher said, “It’s a helpful study because we can now give patients a benchmark, a line they need to cross to see improvement.” Read the rest of this entry »