Obesity News and Research

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Overweight and obesity are defined by the WHO as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to an individuals health.

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer and while it was once an issue only in high income countries, overweight and obesity has now dramatically risen in low- and middle-income countries.Such countries are now facing a "double burden" of disease, for while they continue to deal with the problems of infectious disease and under-nutrition, they are also experiencing a rapid upsurge in chronic disease risk factors such as obesity and overweight, particularly in urban settings.

Researchers Advance the Breeding of High-Resistant Starch Rice

Researchers have demonstrated that the loss of function of two paralogous starch biosynthesis genes increases the amount of resistant starch (RS) in cooked rice.

8 May 2023

Diet Plays a Bigger Role in Shaping Intestinal Microbiota Composition Than Defensins

Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, have found that among the many factors that shape the intestinal microbiota composition, diet has a much stronger impact than defensins, which are intestinal defence molecules produced by the body.

4 May 2023

Research Identifies Protective Drugs that may Lessen the Collateral Damage Caused by Antibiotics

Antibiotics help to fight bacterial infections, but they can also harm the helpful microbes living in the gut, which can have long-lasting health consequences.

17 Apr 2023

New Mechanism Controlling Cellular Proliferation in Response to Serum Revealed

Researchers of the Genome Dynamics Project team at Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science revealed new mechanism controlling cellular proliferation in response to serum, which triggers growth of resting cells.

13 Apr 2023

Stimulating Beige Fat Production Could Help Reverse the Effects of Age-Related Slowing Metabolism

New research suggests a strategy to ward off age-related weight gain, which could prevent obesity and associated health disorders like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and chronic inflammation.

7 Apr 2023

Obesity Influenced by Genetic Predisposition is Associated With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is lower in people with obesity who have a genetic predisposition for high BMI than people with obesity influenced mainly by environmental factors such as lifestyle, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in eClinical Medicine.

6 Apr 2023

Poor Sleep Combined With High Genetic Susceptibility Results in Greater Asthma Risk

Poor quality sleep may bolster a person's genetic susceptibility to asthma, potentially doubling their risk of being diagnosed with the condition, suggests a large UK Biobank study, published in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research.

6 Apr 2023

Walnuts might support heart health by changing the gut microbiome

Scientists at Texas Tech University have revealed that the heart-healthy benefits of eating walnuts could be a result of the changes they induce in the gut microbiome.

24 Mar 2023

Blunted inflammatory response in obese individuals responsible for susceptibility to severe COVID-19

Individuals who are obese may be more susceptible to severe COVID-19 because of a poorer inflammatory immune response, say Cambridge scientists.

23 Mar 2023

Blunted inflammatory response could make obese patients more susceptible to severe COVID-19

Individuals who are obese may be more susceptible to severe COVID-19 because of a poorer inflammatory immune response, say Cambridge scientists.

21 Mar 2023

Losing a productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes

Multiple types of beta cells produce insulin in the pancreas, helping to balance blood sugar levels. Losing a particularly productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

17 Mar 2023

High blood caffeine levels lower body fat and the long-term risks of type 2 diabetes, study finds

A high blood caffeine level might curb the amount of body fat a person carries and their risk of type 2 diabetes, suggests research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine.

16 Mar 2023

Study reveals the detrimental effects of even a few extra pounds on young people

A Kaiser Permanente study of more than 800,000 young people between the ages of 3 and 17 showed that youth at the upper range of average weight had a 26% higher risk of developing hypertension than those closer to what is considered average weight. The study was published March 14, 2023, in JAMA Network Open.

15 Mar 2023

Socioeconomic and genetic factors likely interact in an additive way to increase risk of metabolic diseases

New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham, indicates that socioeconomic and genetic factors likely interact in an additive way to affect people's risks of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes.

8 Mar 2023

Scientists receive $2.5 million NIH grant to define the role of lipid droplets in muscle stem cell function

A team of Purdue University scientists led by Shihuan Kuang has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to define the role of lipid droplets in muscle stem cell function, a study with implications in both humans and livestock.

24 Feb 2023

Locating genes involved in the metabolism and distribution of human fat

Researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School and the University of Chicago discovered data identifying “jumping genes”—associated with the distribution of fat in the abdomen—that are connected to a higher risk for health problems from obesity in women.

17 Feb 2023

Substituting meat for mycoprotein reduces intestinal genotoxins, increases healthy gut bacteria

Researchers from Northumbria University have found that swapping red and processed meat for Quorn's mycoprotein, a fungi-based meat alternative, leads to a significant reduction in intestinal genotoxins - which can cause bowel cancer - and increases healthy gut bacteria.

17 Feb 2023

New insights into genetics of sexually dimorphic fat distribution in humans

Obesity causes many health problems and worsens several chronic illnesses, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, however, some obese people are more susceptible to complications than others.

17 Feb 2023

New center at UCLA focuses on the microbiome’s role in disease prevention

Among the most promising areas of scientific inquiry is the study of the human microbiome and its effect on health. To fuel more rapid progress in this field, Andrea and Donald Goodman and Renee and Meyer Luskin have made a $20 million gift to establish the UCLA Goodman–Luskin Microbiome Center.

16 Feb 2023

Scientists discover how a high fat diet expels gut parasitic worm

Scientists have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system to eliminate a parasitic worm which is a major cause of death and illness in the developing world.

7 Feb 2023

Obesity News and Research

Researchers Advance the Breeding of High-Resistant Starch Rice

Diet Plays a Bigger Role in Shaping Intestinal Microbiota Composition Than Defensins

Research Identifies Protective Drugs that may Lessen the Collateral Damage Caused by Antibiotics

New Mechanism Controlling Cellular Proliferation in Response to Serum Revealed

Stimulating Beige Fat Production Could Help Reverse the Effects of Age-Related Slowing Metabolism

Obesity Influenced by Genetic Predisposition is Associated With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Poor Sleep Combined With High Genetic Susceptibility Results in Greater Asthma Risk

Walnuts might support heart health by changing the gut microbiome

Blunted inflammatory response in obese individuals responsible for susceptibility to severe COVID-19

Blunted inflammatory response could make obese patients more susceptible to severe COVID-19

Losing a productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes

High blood caffeine levels lower body fat and the long-term risks of type 2 diabetes, study finds

Study reveals the detrimental effects of even a few extra pounds on young people

Socioeconomic and genetic factors likely interact in an additive way to increase risk of metabolic diseases

Scientists receive $2.5 million NIH grant to define the role of lipid droplets in muscle stem cell function

Locating genes involved in the metabolism and distribution of human fat

Substituting meat for mycoprotein reduces intestinal genotoxins, increases healthy gut bacteria

New insights into genetics of sexually dimorphic fat distribution in humans

New center at UCLA focuses on the microbiome’s role in disease prevention

Scientists discover how a high fat diet expels gut parasitic worm

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