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Gut bug may influence obesity

May 7, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): Obese patients who test positive for methane on their breath have a significantly higher body mass index (BMI) than their peers, according to a new Cedars-Sinai research.

The study is the first in humans to show a link between the presence of methane-producing bacteria in the gut and elevated BMI, indicating that bacteria may play a role in obesity.

“Obesity is a major health issue and is reaching pandemic levels. It is our hope that by better understanding all the factors that contribute to obesity, we can develop more effective ways of fighting it,” said Ruchi Mathur, a physician in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and one of the study”s authors.

The research was a joint effort of the Center for Weight Loss and the GI Motility Program. The

Study’s lead author Mark Pimentel, director of the GI Motility Program at Cedars-Sinai, said: “Currently we are learning new ways to treat methane-producing bacteria. Future studies addressing these and other bacteria could be part of a number of techniques to improve the chances for weight loss in obese subjects.”

In the study, 58 patients age 18 to 65 with BMIs between 30 and 60 were given a breath test to determine if methane was present. About 20 percent of those patients tested methane positive.

The methane-positive patients had a BMI of up to 7 points higher than those patients who did not show methane on their breath test.

The body mass index is used as a measurement that correlates with obesity. A methane-positive test indicates the patient has certain bacteria in the gut that produce this gas.

Previous research by the Cedars-Sinai GI Motility Program has shown that methane from methane-producing bacteria can slow the gut down.

Mathur said this could play a role in explaining why obese patients with these methane type of bacteria have a higher BMI. Methane, by slowing the gut, could increase calorie harvest.

Adrienne Youdim, director of medical weight loss at the Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss, said: “Our strategies for treating this complex medical problem are limited. This finding is a helpful step in better understanding the growing problem of obesity and potentially providing more effective medical treatments.”

The study was presented at Digestive Disease Week in New Orleans, La. (ANI)

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Obese teens urged to avoid bariatric surgery

May 4, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 4 (ANI): A new research has shown that physicians do not recommend bariatric surgery for obese patients under the age of 18.

Researchers surveyed a national random sample of paediatricians and family physicians for their opinions on referring adolescents for bariatric surgery.

They found half of these physicians would not consider it for adolescent patients.

“We still have a lot to learn about the long term effects of bariatric surgery among adolescents. But recent studies suggest that it can be helpful to improve the health outcomes of severely obese adolescents,” said Susan Woolford, medical director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center at the University of Michigan.

“Physicians worry whether the risks will outweigh the benefits. How long adolescents will be able to sustain the weight loss and what the psychological outcomes would be in their future, are questions that are still being explored. If findings are similar to those in adults, there could be significant weight loss and health benefits,” Woolford added.

The study also found almost all physicians endorsed participation in a monitored weight loss program as a prerequisite for bariatric surgery, though the minimum suggested duration for participation varied from three months to over 5 years.

The study has been published in Obesity Surgery. (ANI)

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Weight loss can prevent kidney disease progression in obese patients

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 18 (ANI): Shedding extra pounds can preserve kidney function in obese people with kidney disease, according to a new study led by Indian origin scientist from Cleveland Clinic.

Weight loss can improve a number of health problems, like it can improve control of diabetes, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduce the effects of heart disease.

During the study, Dr Sankar Navaneethan, and his colleagues analysed the studies that examined the effects of weight loss interventions in obese kidney disease patients.

It showed that weight loss attained through diet and exercise reduces proteinuria (excess excretion of protein in the urine-a hallmark of kidney damage) and may prevent additional decline in kidney function in obese patients with kidney disease.

Studies also showed that surgical interventions normalize the filtration rate of the kidneys in obese patients with high filtration rates (a risk factor for the development of kidney disease).

While the findings imply that weight reduction may prevent the progression of kidney disease in obese kidney disease patients, the authors noted that there were only a small number of studies available for analysis and additional high-quality long-term studies on this topic are needed.

The study appears in Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology. (ANI)

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It’s official: weight loss improves depressed people’s mood

July 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 28 (ANI): In a new study, researchers have shown that a weight loss program not only counteracts depressed mood but also reduces risk factors for heart disease and stroke in obese patients.

They found that after a 6-month behavioral weight loss program, depressed patients not only lost 8 percent of their initial weight but also reported significant improvements in their symptoms of depression, as well as reductions in triglycerides, which are a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

“This research is novel because clinically depressed individuals are not usually included in weight loss trials due to concerns that weight loss could worsen their depression,” said Dr. Lucy Faulconbridge, lead author of the study.

“These concerns, however, are not based on empirical evidence, and the practice of excluding depressed individuals from clinical weight loss trials means that we are learning nothing about this high-risk population,” Faulconbridge added.

The new findings suggest that depressed, obese individuals can indeed lose clinically significant amounts of weight, and that weight loss can actually reduce symptoms of depression.

Faulconbridge and colleagues recruited 51 depressed and non-depressed subjects into the study to follow a supervised weight loss program that included lifestyle modification and meal replacements.

Both depressed and non-depressed subjects lost significant amounts of weight, with depressed individuals losing 8 percent of their initial body weight, compared with 11 percent loss by non-depressed individuals.

After 6 months on the weight loss program, depressed subjects also showed significant improvement of their depressive symptoms, based on a questionnaire.

Additional significant improvements in glucose, insulin and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were observed in both depressed and non-depressed subjects, and depressed individuals showed reduced levels of triglycerides in the blood, which have been linked to risk of heart disease and stroke.

“Depression and obesity are independently associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and so reductions in both body weight and symptoms of depression are likely to improve long-term health outcomes,” said Faulconbridge.

The study is to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). (ANI)

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Yogurt could help gastric-bypass patients lose weight more quickly

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 14 (ANI): Taking probiotics after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery can help obese patients to lose weight more quickly, according to a new study.

Probiotics are the so-called ‘good’ bacteria found in yogurt as well as in over-the-counter dietary supplements that help in the digestion of food.

New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital and Clinics suggests that patients who take probiotics after the gastric-bypass procedure tend to shed more pounds than those who don’t take the supplements.

“Surprisingly, the probiotic group attained a significantly greater percent of excess weight loss than that of control group,” said John Morton, MD, associate professor of surgery at the medical school who wrote the paper with lead author Gavitt Woodard, a third-year medical student, and five other medical students at the Surgery Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation in Stanford’s Department of Surgery.

The researchers followed 44 patients on whom Morton had performed the procedure from 2006 to 2007. Patients were randomized into either a probiotic or a control group.
oth groups received the same bariatric medical care and nutritional counseling, as well as the support of weight-loss study groups. Both groups also were allowed to consume yogurt, a natural source of probiotics.

In addition, the probiotic group consumed one pill per day of Puritan’s Pride, a probiotic supplement that is available online and in many stores. Morton has no financial ties to the company that makes the supplement.

The study showed that at three months, the probiotics group registered a 47.6 percent weight loss, compared with a 38.5 percent for the control group.

The study also found that levels of vitamin B-12 were higher in the patients taking probiotics – a significant finding because patients often are deficient in B-12 after gastric-bypass surgery.

The probiotics group had B-12 levels of 1,214 picograms per milliliter at three months, compared with the control group’s levels of 811 pg/mL.

Morton said he now recommends probiotic supplements to his patients, and he plans to continue to look for ways to enhance the outcomes from the procedure.

The study has been published in the July issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. (ANI)

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Too much weight gain unhealthy for pregnant obese women

May 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 30 (ANI): Too much weight gain during pregnancy can be dangerous for overweight obese women, say researchers.

According to the revised guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), overweight women should gain about not more than 15 pounds during pregnancy.

During the study, the researchers analysed how these guidelines make a difference in maternal-fetal outcomes.

They recruited 232 obese pregnant women, all of whom had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.

Half of the women followed conventional prenatal nutritional guidelines, which is essentially “eat to appetite” (control group).

The other half were placed on a well balanced, nutritionally monitored program, which included a daily food diary (study group).

The average weight gain in the control group was 31 pounds, compared to 11 pounds in the study group. Twenty-three extremely obese patients lost weight during their pregnancy.

The findings showed that there were no fetal deaths and no growth-restricted infants in the study group. Also, there were fewer babies weighing more than 10 pounds in the study group than in the control group.

Birth weight over 10 pounds poses significant hazards to both infants and mothers.

“Women who are obese when beginning a pregnancy are, by definition, unhealthy,” said Dr Yvonne S. Thornton, MPH, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and board-certified specialist in maternal-fetal medicine at New York Medical College.

“To say that they should gain even more weight is counter-intuitive, and our study bears that out. We need to focus on making these women healthier by getting them to eat a well-balanced diet.

“Gaining weight during pregnancy contributes to obesity, and it makes it that much harder for overweight women to return to their normal weight after pregnancy,” Thornton added. (ANI)

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Sleep apnea remains widely undiagnosed in obese diabetics

May 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 22 (ANI): Sleep apnea remains widely undiagnosed among obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, finds a new study.

The researchers found that nearly 87 percent of participants reported symptoms, but were never diagnosed.

“The high prevalence of undiagnosed, and therefore, untreated sleep apnea among obese patients with diabetes constitutes a serious public health problem,” said Dr Gary Foster, lead author and director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University.
In the Sleep AHEAD study involving 306 obese patients with type 2 diabetes the researchers found that 86.6 percent of participants had sleep apnea, yet reported never being diagnosed.

More than 30 percent of these had between 16 and 20 episodes per hour where they would stop breathing, and 22 percent had more than 30 episodes per hour, considered severe sleep apnea.

Most of the participants had a larger waist circumference, which researchers found, along with higher BMI, to be significantly associated with sleep apnea.

The researchers say that these findings are alarming.

“Doctors who have obese patients with type 2 diabetes need to be aware of the possibility of sleep apnea, even if no symptoms are present, especially in cases where the patient has a high BMI or waist circumference,” said Foster.

The study appears in journal Diabetes Care. (ANI)

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Big waistline could surprisingly be a lifeline for heart disease sufferers

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): Despite being a leading contributor to heart disease, obesity appears to play a protective role in a range of cardiovascular problems, says a new study.

Researchers found that obese heart patients respond better to strokes and heart attacks compared to normal or underweight patients.

Although obesity is a leading cause of heart disease, paradoxically scientists say fat and even high cholesterol may have protective benefits.
However, researchers say, losing weight is still best because obesity triggers more heart attacks and strokes.

The study has been published in the May 26, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“Obese patients with heart disease respond well to treatment and have paradoxically better outcomes and survival than thinner patients,” said Carl Lavie, M.D., F.A.C.C., medical director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA and lead author of the article.

“Although these patients have a more favorable short- and long-term prognosis, we don’t yet understand the mechanisms for why this might be the case,” the expert added.

The obesity paradox in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), which was first noticed earlier this decade, is complex. It is likely due to a combination of obesity’s impact on fat cells and other metabolic processes (e.g., insulin resistance, glucose metabolism, metabolic syndrome), as well as other consequences of being obese.

Dr. Lavie speculates that excess weight may be somewhat protective because these patients have more reserves to fight disease than thinner patients. Another explanation might be that obese patients present with problems earlier due to physical deconditioning (being out of shape) and other non-cardiovascular symptoms and, therefore, have the opportunity to be diagnosed with milder disease.

Although obese patients appear to experience fewer cardiovascular events and have better survival rates, Dr. Lavie is quick to caution that patients with heart disease shouldn’t incorrectly assume that gaining weight is the answer.

“Obesity is often what’s causing high blood pressure, blockages in arteries, and increased risk of sudden death in the first place. Such excess weight has adverse effects on all of the major cardiovascular risk factors and has increased the prevalence of heart disease,” he said.

“Taken together, most studies are supportive of purposeful weight loss for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease,” he added.

Health-promoting behaviors to stay active and lose weight can also confer benefits beyond initial heart disease. (ANI)

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Obesity ‘raises urinary tract infections risk’

April 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, April 27 (ANI): A new study has shown that obesity is associated with a higher risk of urinary tract infections (UTI).

To identify whether obesity is associated with a UTI diagnosis, Baltimore researchers evaluated insurance claims of 95,962 subjects over a five-year period (from 2002 through 2006).

They found that, as BMI increased, the odds of being diagnosed with a UTI increased as well.

This association was strongest for morbidly obese patients.

“The effect of the obesity epidemic in the United States transcends any one medical specialty or condition,” said Anthony Y. Smith, MD, an AUA spokesman.

“Patients with elevated body mass index should be vigilant about urologic health because even the most simple of urinary tract infections can be deadly if left untreated,” he added.

The study was presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). (ANI)

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Obesity spending rises for trusts

April 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Around one in six NHS trusts have seen spending on obesity rise more than seven-fold in just three years, new data suggests. Skip related content
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High demand for stomach surgery for obese patients as well as the cost of specialist equipment – such as larger examination couches – means the costs to primary care trusts (PCTs) have shot up.

The new statistics come after official figures published in February revealed that weight-loss stomach surgery for obesity has risen 40% in a year.

The data, from the NHS information centre, showed there were 2,724 hospital admissions in 2007/08 for bariatric surgery, which includes stomach stapling and gastric bypass. Overall, hospital admissions for obesity also increased, reaching 5,018 in 2007/08, a 30% rise on 2006/07 and almost a seven-fold increase on 1996/97.

The data, obtained from 60 PCTs by GP newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, showed 48% were now treating more patients for obesity than three years ago.

Around one in six (16%) PCTs had increased their obesity budget seven-fold in the last three years and the same number (16%) had purchased primary care equipment specially designed for obese patients.

The data also showed that 25% of PCTs have refused requests for bariatric surgery. However, many said they were committed to tackling obesity as a number one priority.

Dr David Haslam, a GP in Hertfordshire and clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said: “PCTs are delighted to find any excuse to turn down bariatric surgery, despite the fact that it is among the most clinically effective, and cost effective procedures in any field of medicine.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “We know that obesity is one of the biggest health challenges we face and it places a financial burden on the NHS. That is why we are committed to taking action to prevent more serious illness and much bigger costs to the health service and the country in years to come.

“Helping people lose weight significantly reduces the risk of problems such as Type 2 diabetes, thereby reducing the cost of treatment on the NHS in the future.”

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Hospitals Spend Seven Times More On Obesity

April 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Hospitals are spending up to seven times more on treating obesity than three years ago, according to new figures. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Hospitals Spend Seven Times More On Obesity

High demand for stomach surgery for obese patients as well as the cost of specialist equipment – such as larger examination couches – means the costs to primary care trusts (PCTs) have shot up.

The new statistics come after official figures published in February revealed that weight-loss stomach surgery for obesity has risen 40% in a year.

The data, from the NHS information centre, showed there were 2,724 hospital admissions in 2007/08 for bariatric surgery, which includes stomach stapling and gastric bypass.

Overall, hospital admissions for obesity also increased, reaching 5,018 in 2007/08, a 30% rise on 2006/07 and almost a seven-fold increase on 1996/97.

The new data, obtained from 60 PCTs by GP newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, showed 48% were now treating more patients for obesity than three years ago.

Around one in six (16%) PCTs had increased its obesity budget seven-fold in the last three years.

And the same number (16%) had purchased primary care equipment specially designed for obese patients.

This includes bariatric examination and treatment couches, scales and oversized blood pressure cuffs.

The data also showed that 25% of PCTs have refused requests for bariatric surgery.

However, many said they were committed to tackling obesity as a priority.

Among those PCTs with budget increases is Halton and St Helens, whose budget for 2007/08 was £800,000, rising to around £3m in 2009/10.

Oxfordshire PCT said its budget in 2007/08 was £88,000, rising to £245,000 in 2008/2009 and £695,000 in 2009/10.

Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation and member of the National Obesity Forum, said: “Obesity is now so great that this level of PCT spending is necessary just to make inroads into the problem.

“But this kind of spending cannot be sustained and could go on to cripple the NHS.”

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Gut bacteria composition may explain why some people become fat

January 20, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

Washington, Jan 20 (ANI): Bacteria in the gut which are crucial to the body’s ability to turn food into energy could explain why some people become obese and others don’t, according to a new study.

The study suggests that the composition of microbes within the gut may hold a key to one cause of obesity-and the prospect of future treatment. esearchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute in collaboration with colleagues at the Mayo Clinic, Arizona, and the University of Arizona, recruited 9 middle-aged volunteers in three groups-normal weight, morbidly obese and following gastric bypass surgery-to participate in the study.

The research team’s central hypothesis is that differing microbial populations in the gut allow the body to harvest more energy, making people more susceptible to developing obesity.

These small differences can, over time, profoundly affect an individual’s weight.

Supporting this view is the study’s confirmation that the microbial composition among obese patients appears significantly altered compared with both normal weight individuals and those who have undergone gastric bypass surgery.

However, the researchers stress that the study is preliminary, but were encouraged by the findings from their small sample.

Future investigation is needed to establish the differences in composition of gut microbiota across different age groups and under varying weight-loss regimens involving diet and exercise.

The study has been published in the January 19 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (ANI)

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