The official MedZine Blog

Mental health conditions, such as depressions and eating disorders, are common among patients suffering from obesity who are planning to undergo bariatric surgery. That is written by American researchers of the David Geffen School of Medicine in JAMA. Continue reading

Cold-activated brown fat cells burn fat to produce warmth, instead of storing it like white fat cells. However, according to scientists from the US and Greece, it is now possible to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells in humans. This discovery opens up new opportunities for the fight against obesity, the research groups write in Cell Metabolism. Continue reading

In a group of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients who underwent bariatric surgery, up to forty percent experienced disease remission, whereas the patients with only lifestyle interventions remained dependent on medication. Those are the results of a cohort study with 52 DM2 patients from the US, published in JAMA Surgery. Continue reading

In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, four obesity experts express strong criticism towards the current treatment of chronic obesity. The researchers argue that obesity is a chronic disease with largely biological causes that cannot just be cured with diet and exercise. Ignoring these biological factors could result in the continued inability to treat obesity effectively and the premature death of millions of individuals each year. Continue reading

Scientists of the Harvard School of Public Health discovered a novel mechanism, partly responsible for a disrupted metabolism in obesity. In their article, recently published in Nature Medicine, the authors present a process that takes place in liver cells, which can eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Continue reading

High- and normal-protein diets are associated with a higher metabolism and more storage of muscle mass than fat. To maintain this higher metabolism, dietary protein levels must remain high. This was postulated by Elisabeth Frost, researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, during ObesityWeek 2014. Continue reading

Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) offers a possible molecular explanation for the fact that one in four obese individuals are metabolically healthy. A study published today in Cell by Alexander Jais and colleagues from the Medical University in Vienna, shows that high levels of HO-1 are associated with poor metabolic health and an elevated risk for developing diabetes type 2 in obese humans. Continue reading

Obesity is a problem of epidemic proportions that causes many serious health related complications. This week, MedZine emphasizes two studies on different aspects of appetite, which controls dietary intake and thus is important for obesity. These studies describe changes in the tongue of obese individuals and a process that influences hormone levels that induce appetite. Continue reading