Gastric bypass patients have reduced risk of death after 10 years
Patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery have a reduced risk of death from obesity or other disease by up to 48% after 10 years. In a Obesity. new study researchers followed almost 2,700 gastric bypass patients over a period of 10 years and found that mortality benefits became apparent after only two years post-surgery. The biggest reduction in risk was found in patients over 60 and in patients that suffered from diabetes before the surgery. The lead author of the study attributed this to the fact that improvements in long-term metabolic and cardiovascular health would be made
Bariatric surgery has been shown, previously, to be the most effective and long-lasting treatment for severe obesity, and the reduction in weight does result in lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis, high blood pressure and many other diseases and conditions. The results from this study show that rather than being discouraged from having surgery, people of an older age should be supported and offered the option of surgery.
Read MoreDoes brain volume predict successfulness at weight loss?
Scientists at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre claim that they are able to predict an individual’s chances of success at weight loss with a simple brain scan and have published their findings in Obesity. The researchers used MRI scans to assess the amount of white and grey matter in the participants and were able to predict weight loss with 78% accuracy based on the brain volume. The study was performed with 52 people between the ages of 60 and 79, all participants were overweight or obese. They were scanned and then split into three separate groups, diet only, diet plus exercise, and diet plus resistance exercise. The scan results were then compared to their actual weight loss after 18 months.
The researchers hope to continue assessing people who want to lose weight, as those with a higher chance of losing weight may respond to less intensive treatments, whilst those with a lower chance may have to resort to more intensive routes. The study itself had a small sample size, therefore the researchers are hoping to perform follow-up studies with more people and to broaden the types of intervention used in order to improve the predictive nature of the scans.
Read MoreCanola oil reduces fat
In a new study, canola oil has been shown to reduce abdominal fat. A known risk factor for cardiovascular disease abdominal fat is also associated with increased risk for metabolic syndrome; canola oil is high in monounsaturated fat which is known to decrease abdominal fat. The researchers had participants adhere to using canola oil in their diets, and found that fat was not just redistributed in the body, but lost all together. Normally it is difficult to focus weight loss on particular areas, however monounsaturated fat seems to target abdominal fat, the mechanism for which is not yet fully understood.
The researchers tested the effect of canola oil in 101 participants over a period of four weeks. A range of different diet types were compared across all individuals. Canola oil was incorporated into the test diets so as to not exceed the participants’ daily needs. The researchers point out that further studies should be conducted in order to examine the long term effects of a diet high in monounsaturated fats, whose source could indeed be canola oil.
Read MoreChildhood obesity increases during the summer holidays
A new study published in Obesity has found that children are more likely to gain weight during their summer holidays than during the school year. Researchers examined the measurements from 18,000 kindergarteners over a period of two years, finding that rates of obesity increase in the summer and not at all during the school year. The results raise questions as to whether policy makers are doing enough to help children maintain healthy weights when they are not in school. Furthermore, they show that if efforts to curb the obesity epidemic are only made in school, it may not have the desired outcome, as many changes occur during the summer anyway.
The researchers hope that in the future school-based interventions will do more to positively shape out-of-school behaviours of children, as well as maintain improvements such as the changes to school meals and the amount of physical activity that occurs. Overall, the researchers are appealing to parents, teachers and public health advocates to increase the awareness of these significant findings, so that more can be done to limit the increase in childhood obesity.
Read MoreGenes identified that burn more calories
A new study has identified a pathway in muscle tissue that increases the rate at which we burn calories. The study is one of the first to actively look at the relationship between genetic variants and energy expenditure. Dr Paolo Piaggi, from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, one of the authors of the study, explained that as obesity research continues, the area of genetic traits must be further explored to identify potential causes of, and treatments for, the disease.
Skeletal muscle biopsies were taken from 219 healthy donors and weight change was measured over 7 years. The researchers found that the expression of the THNSL2 gene in skeletal muscle had the strongest association with low energy expenditure and weight gain. They also found that the production of a cytokine (a type of chemical signaller) was heavily involved with energy expenditure. This has helped further research into the inflammatory process that underpins obesity. Overall, the research helps to further our understanding about how two people with similar diets may vary in weight, this study extends current research covering genetic traits and obesity, and even identifies a potential target for a treatment in THNSL2
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