Posted on 10/27/2021 12:57:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Novel obesity treatments such as modulation of the gut microbiome and gene therapy are underutilized and could help fight the obesity epidemic, according to a new manuscript published in the Endocrine Society’s journal, Endocrine Reviews.
Nearly half of the adults and 20 percent of children in the United States have obesity, yet doctors are under prescribing effective weight loss medications and many patients are not receiving the treatment they need. The weight stigma that exists in healthcare settings makes people with obesity hesitant to seek care until comorbidities develop and reach a dangerous stage. Lack of insurance coverage and cost issues are another factor that creates barriers to obesity treatment.
“Obesity is the epidemic crisis of our time. The disease leads to serious comorbidities such as diabetes, fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease and significantly shortens a person’s length and quality of life,” said Christos S. Mantzoros, M.D., Sc.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Mass. “Until recently we did not understand the genetic and hormonal causes of obesity and how obesity leads to these comorbidities. We have recently started to understand the causes of obesity in humans, which is a big discovery that has led to designing effective therapies.”
In the article, the researchers map out the molecular and hormonal pathways that lead to obesity and the disease’s related comorbidities. This data gives researchers the insights they need to design, test and implement new obesity therapies.
The researchers highlight the need for safer and more effective obesity therapies, including new drug delivery systems, vaccines, modulation of the gut microbiome and gene therapy. Novel medications, including combinations of gastrointestinal hormones and other molecules, are being tested and are expected to lead to significant percentages of weight loss with less side effects once available. As our understanding of obesity improves, more effective medications with fewer side effects will be developed.
Recently approved medications such as semaglutide, a modified gastrointestinal hormone administered once a week, can lead to 15% weight loss when combined with lifestyle changes. Bariatric surgery can lead to up to 40% weight loss, but it is invasive and linked to complications.
“Insurance companies need to pay attention to data from studies and the scientific progress we are making and start covering the medications that are and will be approved soon, given that currently only a small minority of patients with obesity have coverage for the medications and medical care they need,” Mantzoros said. “It would be much more cost effective to cover treatments early instead of waiting for comorbidities and their complications to develop.”
Other authors of the study include: Angeliki Angelidi and Matthew Belanger of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., and Alexander Kokkinos and Chrysi Koliaki of Laiko General Hospital in Athens, Greece. The research received no external funding.
Reference: “Novel Non-invasive Approaches to the Treatment of Obesity: From Pharmacotherapy to Gene Therapy” 26 October 2021, Endocrine Reviews.
It only seems to strike overeaters!
Cut off the Food Stamps. Rarely do I see a skinny person using them and then the cart of full of junk food.
Will they too be required to do something about this to remain unemployed? Will they have to show a weight, bmi and cholesterol card?
Our biggest problem is looking and finding problems that society/the collective/government must solve. Some people are fat. If they aren’t you or your circle, it’s not your business. All the “problems” that we are constantly being presented by media, academia or politicos are actually just life and folks need to get on with it.
Personally, I do care about what I put in my mouth from a nutritional standpoint, and I don’t have a lot of bad habits, like snacking between meals.
My spouse and I split dinners at restaurants, not because we’re cheap, but because they serve too damn much food per order. After asking for take-home boxes nearly every time we dined out, we finally wised up.
I don’t make it a practice to watch people eat, but I’m pretty confident there are a lot of relatively thin people that have no problem scarfing down the aforementioned huge restaurant meals. Seemingly, with no consequences.
It’s my guess that genetics play a major role. And age, certainly.
So, the assertion that every overweight person is just a glutton that needs to exercise a little restraint at the dinner table is a bit simplistic, IMHO.
GAAACK! Eat as you want, when you enter the winter of your life! Never understood wanting to extend your life a couple years with all that “suffering”!
eating with one fork instead of 2 would be pretty easy way to avoid obesity.
Cut your food intake in HALF, and you’ll do just fine, fatsos.
Anybody around old enough to remember the Kennedy Administration physical fitness push?
https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/physical-fitness
It is just a matter of time before the “health” and “science” gang starts going after the obese.
—No obese allowed in hospitals
—No obese allowed in public places
—No obese can be hired by government agencies and government contractors
They are not gonna stop...
Thin people are soooo self righteous.
Just stop stuffing your face and exercise.
Yeah.
So eating a controlled diet of 1500 calories, a job that requires me to be active and on my feet 8+ hours a day and going to the gym 4 days a week should lead to weight loss. But it doesn’t.
Resting heart rate of 40. BP of 115 over 70.
I am walking proof of depressed metabolism, but it seems my insurance won’t pay for an endocrinologist that specializes in metabolic issues.
So, eat less and exercise? GFY
That’s right, they’ll say “when I see an obese person, it makes me want to eat more..” to “prove” it harms others.
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