Obesity

Type 2 diabetes is not one-size-fits-all: Subtypes affect complications and treatment options

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 19, 2024
MOD, Hyperinsulinemia, MARD, First Nations, Human, Obesity, Cell, Indigenous peoples, Unique, Disease, Blood transfusion, Insulin, Diabetes, Risk, Patient, Fatty liver disease, Weight loss, Stroke, Research, Fetus, Metabolic disorder, Hope, Pregnancy, Eye disease, Life, Kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, Pancreas, Paratriathlon, SIDD, Blood, Type, Type 2, Dietary supplement

You may have heard of Ozempic, the “miracle drug” for weight loss, but did you know that it was actually designed as a new treatment to manage diabetes?

Key Points: 
  • You may have heard of Ozempic, the “miracle drug” for weight loss, but did you know that it was actually designed as a new treatment to manage diabetes?
  • In Canada, diabetes affects approximately 10 per cent of the general population.

Locks and keys

  • Every cell in the body needs sugar as an energy source, but too much sugar can be toxic to cells.
  • This equilibrium needs to be tightly controlled and is regulated by a lock and key system.
  • Cells cover themselves with locks that respond perfectly to insulin keys to facilitate the entry of sugar into cells.
  • The body can encounter difficulties producing an adequate number of insulin keys, and/or the locks can become stubborn and unresponsive to insulin.

Severe insulin-deficient diabetes: We’re missing keys!

  • In the severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD) subtype, the key factories — the beta cells — are on strike.
  • Why the beta cells go on strike remains largely unknown, but since there is an insulin deficiency, treatment often involves insulin injections.

Severe insulin-resistant diabetes: But it’s always locked!

  • In the severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) subtype, the locks are overstimulated and start ignoring the keys.
  • There are many treatment avenues for these patients but no consensus about the optimal approach; patients often require high doses of insulin.

Mild obesity-related diabetes: The locks are sticky!

  • Mild obesity-related (MOD) diabetes represents a nuanced aspect of Type 2 diabetes, often observed in individuals with higher body weight.
  • The locks are “sticky,” so it is challenging for the key to click in place and open the lock.

Mild age-related diabetes: I’m tired of controlling blood sugar!


Mild age-related diabetes (MARD) happens more often in older people and typically starts later in life. With time, the key factory is not as productive, and the locks become stubborn. People with MARD find it tricky to manage their blood sugar, but it usually doesn’t lead to severe complications. Among the different subtypes of diabetes, MARD is the most common.

Unique locks, varied keys

  • In Canada, unique cases of Type 2 diabetes were identified in Indigenous children from Northern Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario by Dr. Heather Dean and colleagues in the 1980s and 90s.
  • Read more:
    Indigenous community research partnerships can help address health inequities

    Childhood-onset Type 2 diabetes is on the rise across Canada, but disproportionately affects Indigenous youth.

  • Acknowledging this distinct subtype of Type 2 diabetes in First Nations communities has led to the implementation of a community-based health action plan aimed at addressing the unique challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples.

A mosaic of conditions

  • Type 2 diabetes is not uniform; it’s a mosaic of conditions, each with its own characteristics.
  • Since diabetes presents so uniquely in every patient, even categorizing into subtypes does not guarantee how the disease will evolve.


Lili Grieco-St-Pierre receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS). Jennifer Bruin receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), JDRF, Diabetes Canada.

From sumptuous engravings to stick-figure sketches, Passover Haggadahs − and their art − have been evolving for centuries

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 19, 2024
Bible, Depression, Wine, Freedom, Obesity, Prohibition, Amsterdam Haggadah, Elder, Coffee, Haggadah, Society, Foot, Attitude, Child, University, Typhoid fever, Humour, Passover Seder, Glass, Collection, Maxwell House, European, Map, Sephardic Jews, Book

The Jewish festival of Passover recalls the biblical story of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt and their miraculous escape.

Key Points: 
  • The Jewish festival of Passover recalls the biblical story of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt and their miraculous escape.
  • Every year, a written guide known as a “Haggadah” is read at the Seder table.
  • The core text comprises a description of ritual foods, the story of the Exodus, blessings, commentaries, hymns and songs.

An illustrated classic


One of the greatest examples our library has of this blending of cultures was printed in Amsterdam in 1695.

  • The Amsterdam Haggadah was illustrated by Abraham Bar Yaakov, a German pastor who converted to Judaism.
  • In addition, he incorporated a pull-out map of the route of the Exodus and an imaginative rendering of the Temple in Jerusalem.
  • The text, traditionally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, included instructions in Yiddish and Ladino, the everyday languages for Jews in Europe.
  • The Amsterdam Haggadah proved to be incredibly influential on later versions, with its illustrations copied into the modern era.

A Haggadah for everyone

  • Modern Haggadah illustrations also reflected developments in the art world.
  • In 1920s Berlin, a Jewish art teacher, Otto Geismar, reinterpreted the story of the Exodus using plain, black-and-white, modernist “stick figures” – another Haggadah in our collection.
  • Geismar even injected elements of humor: A child is shown asleep at the table, and in another scene a family of stick figures is engaged in animated conversation and debate.
  • In his depictions of ancient Israelite slaves, stick figures appear especially burdened with heavy loads on their backs.

Wine – and coffee

  • Meanwhile, some suppliers sensed an opportunity to adapt it for their own needs.
  • Owner Sam Schapiro savvily linked his products to the Seder, during which participants drink four small cups of sacramental wine.
  • Wine, seen at this point as a luxury item, also symbolized freedom.
  • Schapiro’s Haggadah fulfilled the commandment to relate the story of the Exodus for a new generation – but the opening pages also provide a tribute in Yiddish to Sam Schapiro’s 40-year-old company.
  • Here Schapiro’s is praised for being the place where religious men and intellectuals alike could get together over a good glass of wine.


Rebecca J.W. Jefferson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Stop asking me if I’ve tried keto: Why weight stigma is more than just being mean to fat people

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Eating, Depression, Health, Employment, Hatred, Obesity, Environment, Education, Social media, Mental health, Clothing, Anxiety, Microaggression, Hostile witness, Life, Embarrassment, Social stigma of obesity, Restaurant, OK, Family

People may think weight stigma only manifests as rude comments, is harmless or can even do some good.

Key Points: 
  • People may think weight stigma only manifests as rude comments, is harmless or can even do some good.
  • But the reality is that weight stigma is often insidious, and pervasively entrenched into our society and environment.

Fat microaggressions

  • The impacts of microaggressions have been described as “death by a thousand cuts,” referring to how seemingly minor incidents, when repeated cumulatively, contribute to real harm.
  • With combined input from reports of lived experiences, expert testimony and large studies with diverse samples, we identified four main types of fat microaggressions.
  • Think fat jokes, unintelligent, gross, and/or unattractive fat characters on TV and in movies (like “Fat Monica” from Friends or Gwyneth Paltrow’s character in Shallow Hal), and thin friends complaining they “feel fat” in front of a larger person and commenting on how much they hate their bodies.
  • Our data confirm that indirect microaggressions are the type most experienced by fat people — they invade every aspect of daily life and remind fat people that they are not viewed as OK.

Clothing exclusion

  • One type of direct microaggression that emerged as its own category in our analysis was clothing exclusion.
  • It is also common to see clothing in stores with claims that “one size fits all,” that really don’t.
  • Fat activists have also long recognized that clothing exclusion acts as a proxy for other societal forms of erasure, in that the more standard options fail you, the more you are likely facing other forms of everyday oppressions.

Benevolent weightism

  • You would be hard-pressed to find a fat person who has not tried multiple weight-loss methods, only to end up unsuccessful and feeling worse about themselves than ever.
  • Indeed, the most likely outcome of weight-loss attempts is weight regain, and usually, weight rebound above your initial starting point.
  • Studies that show otherwise are often methodologically flawed and frequently misleading in their headline messaging.

Why fat microaggressions matter

  • Across four studies, we established the prominence of fat microaggressions in the lives of fat people and linked experiencing fat microaggressions to poorer mental health, such as greater stress, anxiety and depression, and worse self-esteem.
  • Fat microaggressions were even associated with discrimination-related trauma symptoms, including feeling on edge or constantly on guard, fearing embarrassment or feeling isolated from others.

How you can help

  • Greater awareness and recognition of fat microaggressions is an important first step to confronting them.
  • If you really are concerned about health, do not tell fat people they need fixing; these microaggressions make people’s health worse, not better.
  • Challenging anti-fat attitudes when they manifest in these other ways is key to a more inclusive and less harmful world.


Angela Meadows has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Megan Lindloff and Rachel Calogero do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

PFAS ‘forever chemicals’: Why EPA set federal drinking water limits for these health-harming contaminants

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Research, GxP, Toxicity, Health, Obesity, PFNA, Liver, Gore-Tex, 3M, PFAS, PFOS, Environment, Name, Risk, Food packaging, Fertility, PFOA, Pregnancy, Life, Diet, Thyroid disease, EPA, Agency, National academy, Water, Kidney, Breast cancer, Scotchgard, Inflammatory bowel disease, Birth weight, Cosmetics, Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, Vaccine, Soil, Family, Map, Drinking water, Pre-eclampsia, Poison

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now believes there is no safe level for two common PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – in drinking water, and it acknowledges that very low concentrations of other PFAS present human health risks.

Key Points: 
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now believes there is no safe level for two common PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – in drinking water, and it acknowledges that very low concentrations of other PFAS present human health risks.
  • The agency issued the first legally enforceable national drinking water standards for five common types of PFAS chemicals, as well as PFAS mixtures, on April 10, 2024.

What exactly are PFAS?

  • This is a large group of human-made chemicals – currently estimated to be nearly 15,000 individual chemical compounds – that are used widely in consumer products and industry.
  • They can make products resistant to water, grease and stains and protect against fire.
  • The short answer is that PFAS are harmful to human health and the environment.
  • Some of the very same chemical properties that make PFAS attractive in products also mean these chemicals will persist in the environment for generations.
  • The U.S. Geological Survey estimates common types of PFAS are now in at least 45% of the country’s tap water.

What are the health risks from PFAS exposure?

  • Research consistently demonstrates that PFAS are associated with a variety of adverse health effects.
  • A review by a panel of experts looking at research on PFAS toxicity concluded with a high degree of certainty that PFAS contribute to thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancer.
  • Additionally, current research suggests that babies exposed prenatally are at higher risk of experiencing obesity, early-onset puberty and reduced fertility later in life.
  • Collectively, this is a formidable list of diseases and disorders.

Who’s regulating PFAS?

  • DuPont called it Teflon, which eventually became a household name for its use on nonstick pans.
  • Decades later, in 1998, Scotchgard maker 3M notified the Environmental Protection Agency that a PFAS chemical was showing up in human blood samples.
  • At the time, 3M said low levels of the manufactured chemical had been detected in people’s blood as early as the 1970s.
  • The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has a toxicological profile for PFAS.

How can you reduce your PFAS exposure?

  • The best ways to protect yourself and your family from risks associated with PFAS are to educate yourself about potential sources of exposure.
  • Products labeled as water- or stain-resistant have a good chance of containing PFAS.
  • Strategies for monitoring and reporting PFAS contamination vary by location and PFAS source, so the absence of readily available information does not necessarily mean the region is free of PFAS problems.


Kathryn Crawford receives funding from National Institutes of Health and US Geological Survey.

No, taking drugs like Ozempic isn’t ‘cheating’ at weight loss or the ‘easy way out’

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Eating, Reward, Diarrhea, Cardiovascular disease, Obesity, Exercise, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Cell, Hunger, Energy, Half-life, Indigestion, Abdominal pain, Gardening, Insulin, Risk, Diabetes, Weight loss, Stroke, Constipation, Research, Food, Meal, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Diet, Nausea, Gallbladder disease, Dance, Kidney failure, Hypoglycemia, TGA, BMI, Vomiting, Acute pancreatitis, STEP, Pharmaceutical industry

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight.

Key Points: 
  • Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight.
  • As demand for semaglutide increases, so are claims that taking it is “cheating” at weight loss or the “easy way out”.
  • We don’t tell people who need statin medication to treat high cholesterol or drugs to manage high blood pressure they’re cheating or taking the easy way out.

How does it work?

  • GLP-1 gets secreted by cells in your gut when it detects increased nutrient levels after eating.
  • GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) medications like Ozempic help the body’s own GLP-1 work better by mimicking and extending its action.
  • Read more:
    The rise of Ozempic: how surprise discoveries and lizard venom led to a new class of weight-loss drugs

What can users expect? What does the research say?

  • Higher doses of semaglutide are prescribed to treat obesity compared to type 2 diabetes management (up to 2.4mg versus 2.0mg weekly).
  • A large group of randomised controlled trials, called STEP trials, all tested weekly 2.4mg semaglutide injections versus different interventions or placebo drugs.
  • Trials lasting 1.3–2 years consistently found weekly 2.4 mg semaglutide injections led to 6–12% greater weight loss compared to placebo or alternative interventions.
  • Weight reduction due to semaglutide also leads to a reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of about 4.8 mmHg and 2.5 mmHg respectively, a reduction in triglyceride levels (a type of blood fat) and improved physical function.
  • Another recent trial in adults with pre-existing heart disease and obesity, but without type 2 diabetes, found adults receiving weekly 2.4mg semaglutide injections had a 20% lower risk of specific cardiovascular events, including having a non-fatal heart attack, a stroke or dying from cardiovascular disease, after three years follow-up.

Who is eligible for semaglutide?

  • Australia’s regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has approved semaglutide, sold as Ozempic, for treating type 2 diabetes.
  • The TGA has approved Wegovy to treat obesity but it’s not currently available in Australia.

What else do you need to do during Ozempic treatment?

  • In addition to taking medication, people had brief lifestyle counselling sessions with dietitians or other health professionals every four weeks as a minimum in most trials.
  • The aim of these trials was to show the effect of adding the medication on top of other lifestyle counselling.


A review of obesity medication trials found people reported they needed less cognitive behaviour training to help them stick with the reduced energy intake. This is one aspect where drug treatment may make adherence a little easier. Not feeling as hungry and having environmental food cues “switched off” may mean less support is required for goal-setting, self-monitoring food intake and avoiding things that trigger eating.

But what are the side effects?

  • In on study these led to discontinuation of medication in 6% of people, but interestingly also in 3% of people taking placebos.
  • More severe side-effects included gallbladder disease, acute pancreatitis, hypoglycaemia, acute kidney disease and injection site reactions.
  • Here are some potential risks and benefits

    To reduce risk or severity of side-effects, medication doses are increased very slowly over months.

  • Health, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Greater Charitable Foundation.
  • She has consulted to SHINE Australia, Novo Nordisk, Quality Bakers, the Sax Institute, Dietitians Australia and the ABC.

Biophytis announces its 2023 financial results and provides an update on its business activities

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Annual, Notifiable disease, Annual report, Conference, Obesity, Euronext Growth, Goldman Sachs, Disease, MDA, Partnership, Risk, COVID-19, Patient, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Sarcopenia, University, Respiratory failure, Clinical trial, Therapy, FDA, Pharmaceutical industry

2024: The actual start of the study will depend on the conclusion of partnership agreements and Biophytis' financial resources.

Key Points: 
  • 2024: The actual start of the study will depend on the conclusion of partnership agreements and Biophytis' financial resources.
  • Promising preclinical results for BIO101 (20-hydroxyecdysone) in obesity, suggesting beneficial metabolic effects on muscle and fat mass.
  • On this basis, Biophytis plans to start a phase 1/2 clinical trial in 2024, depending on its financial resources.
  • There is therefore significant doubt about the Company's ability to continue its business activities.

Biophytis announces its 2023 financial results and provides an update on its business activities

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Annual, Notifiable disease, Annual report, Conference, Obesity, Euronext Growth, Goldman Sachs, Disease, MDA, Partnership, Risk, COVID-19, Patient, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Sarcopenia, University, Respiratory failure, Clinical trial, Therapy, FDA, Pharmaceutical industry

2024: The actual start of the study will depend on the conclusion of partnership agreements and Biophytis' financial resources.

Key Points: 
  • 2024: The actual start of the study will depend on the conclusion of partnership agreements and Biophytis' financial resources.
  • Promising preclinical results for BIO101 (20-hydroxyecdysone) in obesity, suggesting beneficial metabolic effects on muscle and fat mass.
  • On this basis, Biophytis plans to start a phase 1/2 clinical trial in 2024, depending on its financial resources.
  • There is therefore significant doubt about the Company's ability to continue its business activities.

EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Museum, Obesity, Organization, University, Diabetes, Patient, City, Transport, Messenger, Glass, Commerce, Syringe, Wilson Community College, Research Triangle, SCHOTT, Injection, North Carolina State University, Vaccine, Economic development, Borosilicate glass

EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA

Key Points: 
  • EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA
    SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility
    The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
  • SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility in Wilson, North Carolina
    First U.S. manufacturing facility to fill demand for domestic supply of glass and polymer prefillable syringes that deliver mRNA, GLP-1, and other therapies
    SCHOTT Pharma plans to make Wilson, North Carolina home to its newest site.
  • SCHOTT Pharma a pioneer in pharmaceutical drug containment solutions and delivery systems, will build the first U.S. facility to manufacture prefillable polymer syringes required to meet the need for deep-cold storage and transportation of mRNA medications.
  • On average, more than 25,000 injections per minute are provided to patients worldwide through a product produced by SCHOTT Pharma.

Biophytis launches OBA phase 2 clinical study in obesity with BIO101 (20-hydroxyecdysone)

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Notifiable disease, Metabolism, Obesity, Euronext Growth, Skeletal muscle, Patient, Nature Biotechnology, Weight loss, Trial of the century, OBA, Facial muscles, Sarcopenia, Therapy, MAS, Pharmaceutical industry

These benefical effects of BIO101 (20-hydroxyecdysone) may translate into improved mobility and muscle strength in obese sarcopenic patients, as suggested in the SARA-INT phase 2 study.

Key Points: 
  • These benefical effects of BIO101 (20-hydroxyecdysone) may translate into improved mobility and muscle strength in obese sarcopenic patients, as suggested in the SARA-INT phase 2 study.
  • We believe that our leadership in developing drugs for muscular diseases and promising results obtained in obesity will be a strong accelerator of the OBA clinical plan."
  • The OBA Phase 2 clinical study is expected to start mid 2024, upon regulatory approvals, with first patients expected to be treated in the second half of 2024.
  • Further information on the OBA program and the clinical study is expected to be provided through the coming weeks.

South Carolina Public Radio and College of Charleston announce the April 12 premiere of 'Teachable Moments'

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
College of Charleston, College, Head, Obesity, Growth, Prevalence, Learning, Achievement Medal, Associate, Partnership, Business, Education, Mental health, Morning Edition, Student, All things, Host, All Things Considered, Parent, Tune, School

Charleston, South Carolina, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Carolina Public Radio (SC Public Radio) and the College of Charleston are proud to announce a partnership aimed at delivering concise, impactful insights tailored for both students and parents.

Key Points: 
  • Charleston, South Carolina, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Carolina Public Radio (SC Public Radio) and the College of Charleston are proud to announce a partnership aimed at delivering concise, impactful insights tailored for both students and parents.
  • The collaboration between SC Public Radio and the College of Charleston underscores the shared vision of fostering community engagement and advancing educational initiatives.
  • Tune in to Teachable Moments on SC Public Radio every Friday during Morning Edition and All Things Considered beginning April 12.
  • “SC Public Radio is excited to unveil this collaboration with the College of Charleston.