We know that obesity increases the risk of getting some types of cancers. But it isn’t just your chance of getting cancer that obesity can affect, there are other factors involved. For example, obesity may interfere with the effectiveness of a common drug that is used to fight breast cancer in post-menopausal women, according to an Australian study. A short version of the clinical explanation is that aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are pills that block the production of estrogen in post-menopausal women by blocking an enzyme called aromatase. Aromatase turns the hormone androgen into small amounts of estrogen in the body,...

New research reinforces the idea that distraction techniques may reduce food cravings, leading to improved weight loss.  Presented at this year’s Obesity Week, two studies showed that cognitive strategies for turning attention away from food cravings help people turn off the desire to indulge–at least briefly. The first study used functional MRI (fMRI) to look at brain activity as overweight and obese participants looked at images of foods like ice cream and pizza–and to assess how mental distraction techniques changed that activity. They were asked to enlist four basic cognitive strategies while looking at pictures of the food, which included:...

While once considered a high risk procedure, laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes is now no riskier than some of the safest and most commonly performed surgeries in America–including appendectomy, gallbladder surgery, and total knee replacement, according to a new study. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute reported that the procedure carries a complication and mortality rate similar to commonly performed procedures. For example, they found that the 30-day complication rate associated gastric bypass was 3.4%, which is about the same rate as gallbladder surgery and hysterectomy. The 30-day mortality rate was 0.30%,...

Research has pinpointed obesity as a significant risk factor for several types of cancer. And not only does carrying extra weight increase your risks of these cancer, some studies have even shown that being overweight can interfere with certain cancer treatments, making them less effective. The link between obesity and cancer is undeniably of critical importance in the United States. With more than two-thirds of Americans obese or overweight, obesity has become a tremendous public health challenge that also impacts cancer care and prevention. Recently, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), one of the largest groups of cancer specialists...

As the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased, more and more children and teens are at risk for early cardiovascular problems and metabolic dysfunction.  At a recent forum of the American Academy of Pediatrics Institute for Healthy Childhood, new research showed that there are metabolic measures that can be used in children and adolescents to predict health risks in adulthood–and hopefully help to prevent them. One study on 754 children and teens found that waist-to-hip ratio was correlated with factors that normally are associated with the metabolic syndrome in adults.  Waist-to-hip ration was correlated positively with triglycerides in 597 patients,...

Obese people who undergo weight loss surgery are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, with an 80% decrease in risk reported in a recent study. During up to seven years of follow-up, 38 cases of diabetes were diagnosed in the weight loss surgery group and 177 among controls, which represented about 4% of the surgery group and 16% of the controls. The study authors concluded that their findings suggest that “weight loss surgery could be a highly effective method for prevention of diabetes in patients with severe obesity.” Research has proven that weight loss surgery significantly improves or even...

Many people mistakenly belief that losing a large amount of weight is easy – they often say “just eat less and move more.” While it is likely realistic, although challenging, to lose 10 or 20 pounds that way, how much success can we expect for people who want to lose more substantial weight without professional help? Recently, a systematic review and meta-analysis was published in the American Journal of Public Health, looking at the effectiveness of self-help approaches to weight management. The researchers defined “self-help” as self-directed weight interventions that do not require professional help to deliver, including medias such as...

To those who work with weight loss surgery patients every day, it is clear that these procedures improve the quality of life and health. Additionally, a long-term study following 2500 weight loss surgery patients found that having surgery reduces the risk of death years later. While weight loss surgery is generally considered the best treatment option for severely obese people, so far most studies have not followed enough people for long enough to show if surgery helps improve health in the long-run. This new study found that 6% of the surgery patients had died of all causes five years after surgery,...

We know genetics has some kind of a role in weight, but how does that work? It seems our genetic makeup can influence whether we are overweight or slim, by shaping which types of microbes thrive in our body, according to a study. Scientists identified a specific, little known bacterial family that is highly heritable and more commonly found in slim individuals.  Microbes are tiny organisms that live primarily in the intestines. The average person has about 2 to 3 pounds of microbes in their body. Recent research has shown more evidence of microbes being related to weight. This study highlights...

In general, people spend a lot of their time in their homes, which is why researchers from Ohio State University decided to look at how food storage and availability in the home is associated with obesity. The study included 50 obese individuals and 50 non-obese individuals. The findings showed that the obese participants kept more food visible throughout the house and generally ate less-healthy foods than non-obese participants. One interesting finding was the food was spread out more around the house–beyond the kitchen, likely making it more difficult to avoid eating.  In addition, while participants in both groups spent about...