https://medicalxpress.com/overweight-obesity-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Weight Management What if one of the keys to a healthier metabolism is understanding how and when the liver communicates with the rest of the body? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-liver-boost-fat-breakdown-potential.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:02 EDT news705769741 There's no shortage of weight-loss advice on social media, TikTok, television and AI chatbots. But the most credible source—a patient's own primary care doctor—is often the one they're not hearing from. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-patients-obesity-dont-weight.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news705735857 Restarting obesity medications, including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, soon after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is associated with greater one-year weight loss than surgery alone in adolescents, according to a research letter published online July 22 in JAMA Surgery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-reinitiating-obesity-meds-bariatric-surgery.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:40:06 EDT news705678812 The size of a person's midsection is a better indicator of cardiovascular disease risk than body mass index (BMI) alone, according to a study published in JACC. BMI has traditionally been used to determine overweight or obesity, common risk factors for heart disease, but this study shows that not accounting for waist circumference (WC) or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) can lead to misclassification of cardiovascular disease risk. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-abdominal-fat-heart-disease-bmi.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:00:03 EDT news705580081 There are people around us who can maintain their weight despite what they eat. This has led scientists to believe that a person's metabolism and tendency toward obesity may have genetic factors behind them. A large study sequencing the genomes of more than 1 million people across three continents, found genetic clues that could drive this tendency. The findings are published in Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-people-rare-gene-variant-naturally.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:40:01 EDT news705585086 For decades, obesity medications produced only modest weight loss. But in recent years, Ozempic and related GLP-1 therapies have transformed the field, enabling sustained weight loss of 10% to 15% or more. Despite their success, however, scientists have not fully understood how these drugs work in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-unexpected-brain-mechanism-assumptions-glp.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:00:04 EDT news705583922 Type 2 diabetes usually develops over many years, yet preventive measures often begin only once blood glucose levels are already elevated. An international panel of experts led by University Hospital Tübingen and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) is therefore calling for a fundamental shift in thinking: Diabetes prevention should take the entire life course into account—from the period before pregnancy through older adulthood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-prediabetes-remission-central-goal-diabetes.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news705582782 A low-fat vegan diet lowers the energy density of the foods people eat by roughly 30%, allowing them to eat satisfying amounts of food while taking in fewer calories and losing weight—without deliberately restricting calories—according to new research published in JAMA Network Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-fat-vegan-diet-dietary-energy.html Sun, 09 Aug 2026 11:40:02 EDT news705315984 Having high blood pressure is associated with greater intentions to follow doctors' recommendations to take medication but lower intentions to make recommended lifestyle changes than among people without high blood pressure, according to a new study published in Hypertension. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-greater-intentions-hypertension-medication-lifestyle.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:20:01 EDT news705301261 Look at a group of kids, and you're going to see many different shapes and sizes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-aerobic-teller-brain-health.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:40:05 EDT news705134042 As the use of GLP-1 and other incretin-based medications for obesity continues to grow worldwide, researchers at Marshall University have contributed to an international effort to address one of medicine's most pressing unanswered questions: How should these medications be used by women before, during and after pregnancy? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-glp-medications-women-reproductive-years.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news705064141 A study of more than 5,500 people over age 50 has raised a red flag: It found that people with abdominal obesity and vitamin D deficiency have a 123% higher risk of death than those without these conditions. Results of the study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism indicate that although each condition is dangerous on its own, they multiply the risk of mortality when present together. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-combination-abdominal-obesity-vitamin-d.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:40:05 EDT news705071079 A study of nearly 61,000 women in Denmark finds that women who had a body mass index (BMI) trajectory in the overweight or obesity range during childhood were less likely to have children than women with a normal (average) BMI trajectory. This effect on childlessness was already apparent in their mid-20s. The study is published in JAMA Network Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-overweight-obesity-childhood-childlessness-adulthood.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 11:00:10 EDT news705059609 One of the many ways obesity harms the human body is through damage to skeletal muscle. This progressive muscle decline, also known as sarcopenia, reduces strength, mobility and the ability to live independently. Unfortunately, most therapies for obesity and related conditions like type 2 diabetes focus solely on managing weight and blood glucose rather than addressing the loss of muscle mass and function itself. Understanding what drives muscle deterioration during obesity and finding ways to reverse it are key to addressing this challenge. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-immune-cells-key-obesity-muscle.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 10:00:03 EDT news705047014 A traditional Japanese medicine used for obesity may do more than support weight loss. Researchers at the University of Osaka, working with Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., investigated whether Bofutsushosan could protect aging tissues from fibrosis—the excessive buildup of scar-like tissue that can make organs stiff and less functional. The study was published in the journal Phytomedicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-traditional-japanese-medicine-ease-age.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:40:07 EDT news704973880 If you're a Black, 34-year-old South African woman living with HIV, antiretroviral (ARV) treatment options have likely been limited to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), lamivudine (3TC) and the "gold standard," dolutegravir (DTG). Now, another once-daily, three-drug regimen has been found to be as effective as DTG in suppressing HIV viral load. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-doravirine-dolutegravir-suppress-hiv-viral.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news704977021 A new approach to defining obesity could help physicians better determine which patients need more intensive treatment by focusing on the effects of excess adiposity on organs and tissues rather than relying primarily on whether a person meets a set of metabolic risk thresholds. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-healthy-obesity-framework-daily-limitations.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:20:03 EDT news704723401 Not every disease announces itself with obvious symptoms. Some develop quietly, going unnoticed until they begin to take a serious toll on health. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of them. Rather than a single disease, it is a combination of at least three conditions—including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess belly fat, high triglycerides and low HDL (good) cholesterol—that together raise the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-equal-metabolic-syndrome.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:40:06 EDT news704696757 A previously unknown microprotein hidden within the human mitochondrial genome may help explain certain forms of type 2 diabetes and could point toward a new precision medicine approach to treating it, according to a new USC study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-newly-microprotein-linked-diabetes-precision.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:20:06 EDT news704642701 A man's body fat percentage may be a better indicator of his reproductive health than body mass index (BMI), according to a large study of more than 1,000 Danish men. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-percentage-body-fat-indicator-men.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 19:10:01 EDT news704473801 New research from the Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS) has found that circadian rhythm-related genes could influence the risk of obesity in children, highlighting an important connection between sleep and eating behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-circadian-gene-variants-indicator-obesity.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:00:02 EDT news704469902 GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic have transformed the treatment of type 2 diabetes, helping millions of patients better control their blood sugar while reducing cardiovascular risk and, for many, promoting substantial weight loss. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-glp-drugs-benefits-physical-health.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:20:04 EDT news704463721 Different varieties and doses of GLP-1 medications can have meaningful differences in how they address heart and metabolic health issues, according to new research led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Through an analysis of data from 19 randomized controlled trials, the researchers believe their work points to possible precision medicine applications of GLP-1s beyond weight loss. Their work is published in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-glp-therapies-tailored-patients-individual.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:20:08 EDT news704386441 Ever wonder why some people crave sweets while others can take them or leave them? Preliminary findings from a new study suggest that people who carry certain genetic variants associated with a preference for sweet or fatty tastes not only tend to eat more of these foods but also have a higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes as a result. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-genes-metabolic-health.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:30:01 EDT news704357516 Childhood obesity affects 1 in 5 children in the U.S., yet most families have limited access to specialized weight-management programs for children. Now, a large clinical trial led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of Rochester Medical Center, the LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has shown that an effective, family-based treatment model can be delivered in primary care settings to treat children and adolescents with obesity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pediatric-offices-family-based-obesity.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:00:08 EDT news704105173 Noncommunicable diseases—heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer—are no longer just a rich-country problem. Across Africa, they are becoming the leading cause of death, driven in part by a simple and overlooked culprit: what people drink. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tax-sugary-egypt-disease-us18.html Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:00:04 EDT news703773462 Thanks to advances in AI, popular calorie-tracking apps can now use a photo of a meal to estimate the nutritional content of what you're eating. Although these apps are convenient, a new study found that four photo-based apps underestimated the calorie and fat content of meals by about a third. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-photo-based-calorie-tracking-apps.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:30:02 EDT news704101953 Researchers have identified a biological marker that rises and falls as body fat changes, offering new insight into how weight gain and weight loss may influence metabolic health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-biomarker-discovery-advance-treatments-obesity.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:20:06 EDT news704109781 Cambridge scientists have solved the mystery of why both stimulating and blocking a particular "switch" in the brain can help people lose weight—findings that could help boost the effectiveness of obesity drugs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-distinct-brain-circuits-contradictory-behaviors.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 05:00:06 EDT news704044861 Young women are leading a worrying increase in early-onset type 2 diabetes diagnoses in England, according to a new analysis. In a population study of type 2 diabetes in England, researchers found a clear generational divide, with diagnosis rates rising rapidly among younger adults, particularly women, while declining in older age groups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-young-women-england-early-onset.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:20:03 EDT news703937521