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Kids' weight has spiked during the pandemic, but it's part of a long-term trendAs a pediatric endocrinologist in a busy New York City hospital, I am acutely aware of the impact COVID-19 has had on my patients. The physical, emotional, social, and academic costs of the pandemic are evident every time I examine a child diagnosed with the virus. However, I am also deeply aware of another health risk that is threatening the well-being of my patients -- the significant increase in obesity that we have seen in children and teenagers over the past 18 months. Before COVID-19, obesity affected...

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...

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...

New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Specifically, the scientists found pronounced effects of the oil on the hypothalamus, where a number of critical processes take place. “The hypothalamus regulates body weight via your metabolism, maintains body temperature, is critical for reproduction and physical growth as well as your response to stress,” “The dogma is that saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fat is good. Soybean oil is a polyunsaturated fat, but the idea that it’s good for you is...

Forcing children who are not at risk for serious illness to receive a vaccine of marginal benefit undermines confidence in legitimate vaccine programs.California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for schoolchildren age 12 and older — and other similar mandates popping up around the country — raises the question: For a patient population that predominately suffers only mild to no symptoms, is it ethical to coerce them to receive a vaccine that provides little benefit and causes rare but significant side effects?Why COVID-19 and Polio Aren’t The SameDuring the early 1950s, my parents waited and hoped that polio, an incurable,...

Superman's transition from a patriotic paladin into a champion for left-wing causes is far more profound than his newfound queerness.Superman came out as bisexual this week. Congrats?On Monday, the series publisher revealed the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Jon, who has launched his own career as Superman, will strike up a romantic relationship with a male companion next issue in November. Rather than pair the chiseled dark-haired flying knight with a comic book version of James Bond, Jon Kent will fall in love with a pink-haired journalist named Jay Nakamura.Superman comes out as bisexual; 'not a gimmick,' writer...

The "diet" in diet drinks may be a false promise for some soda lovers. True, they deliver the fizz and taste of a soda experience, without the calories. Yet, new research shows they also can leave people with increased food cravings. A study published recently in JAMA Network Open adds to the evidence that drinks made with sucralose may stimulate the appetite, at least among some people, and the study gives some clues as to why. "We found that females and people with obesity had greater brain reward activity" after consuming the artificial sweetener, says study author Katie Page, a...

It is well known that obesity affects the body's insulin production and over time risks leading to type 2 diabetes and several other metabolic diseases. Now researchers have found further explanation for why fat cells cause metabolic morbidity. Many metabolic diseases, among them type 2 diabetes, are strongly associated with obesity. In order to reverse the trend, more knowledge is needed, among other things, about how fat cells (adipocytes) contribute to various harmful processes in tissues and organs. When fat cells are enlarged, they begin to secrete factors that cause inflammation of the adipose tissue. Fat cell enlargement is also...

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: It's official. The pandemic's rumored effect on America's waistline is real. A report based on new CDC data showed 16 states documented obesity rates of 35% or higher. That's an increase of four states in just a year. Moreover, those rates are rising faster among racial minorities. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports. YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Fatima Cody Stanford is a leading obesity researcher at Harvard Medical School. She's long argued obesity's growing prevalence has not met with adequate recognition that it is a disease. And because it goes largely unrecognized or untreated, it does not surprise her that...

America’s underlying pandemic is getting worse. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) out Wednesday shows the number of states with high obesity rates nearly doubled in the course of two years, with at least 35 percent of residents in 16 states consisting of adults with obesity in 2020. The number of states is up from a dozen in 2019, and nine in 2018. States added last year include Delaware, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas, each now home to a population where more than a third of people are obese. States that had already reached that benchmark...

When rats are fed a high fat diet, this disturbs the body clock in their brain that normally controls satiety, leading to over-eating and obesity. That’s according to new research published in The Journal of Physiology. The number of people with obesity has nearly tripled worldwide since 1975.[1] In England alone, 28% of adults are obese and another 36% are overweight.[2] Obesity can lead to several other diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.[3] This new research may be a cornerstone for future clinical studies that could restore the proper functioning of the...

A Texas man who had organized a “Freedom Rally” in protest of COVID-19 restrictions is now on a ventilator after becoming infected with COVID, according to his pregnant wife. ...The San Angelo Standard-Times had reported that Caleb had been hospitalized with COVID for more than a month, with Wallace telling the paper that her husband initially refused to get tested for the virus and tried his own vitamin regimen to treat himself rather than seeing a doctor. Most days his wife said that she and her three daughters FaceTime him in the hospital with the help of a nurse, though...

Obstructive sleep apnea, a form of sleep-disordered breathing, is common in children and adolescents and may be associated with elevated blood pressure and changes in heart structure. "The likelihood of children having disordered breathing during sleep and, in particular, obstructive sleep apnea, may be due to enlargement of the tonsils, adenoids or a child's facial structure, however, it is important for parents to recognize that obesity also puts kids at risk for obstructive sleep apnea," said Carissa M. Baker-Smith, M.D. "Sleep disruptions due to sleep apnea have the potential to raise blood pressure and are linked with insulin resistance and...

A Texas Republican leader who was hospitalized with COVID-19 died Wednesday, just days after he shared a post on social media questioning the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine. ... The county Republican Party said in its Facebook post that Apley’s death was “a tragedy,” and called on supporters to “please pray for Melissa and Reid and their family.”

…Leptin, the satiety or appetite-suppressant hormone, is secreted by the adipose tissue at levels proportional to the body's fat reserves and regulates appetite by controlling the feeling of fullness. It is transported to the brain by tanycytes—cells which it enters by attaching to the LepR receptors. Tanycytes are therefore leptin's gateway to the brain, helping it to cross the blood-brain barrier and deliver satiety information to the neurons. Previous research has revealed that such transport is impaired in subjects who are obese or overweight. This goes some way to explaining their dysfunctional appetite regulation given that it is more difficult...

A Las Vegas dad dying of COVID-19 sent his fiancée the heartbreaking text, “I should have gotten the damn vaccine” just before he succumbed, according to new reports. Michael Freedy, 39, had gone on vacation with fiancée Jessica du Preez and their children, ages 17, 10, 7, 6 and 17 months, in mid-July, KVVU reported. A short time after their return, Freedy went to the hospital with a painful skin rash. While there, he ended up testing positive for COVID-19. He went home to try to ride out the illness in isolation, but his symptoms became more and more severe,...

A 28-year-old man in Alabama who believed COVID-19 was a “hoax” has died from the virus — and now his family is urging people to get the vaccine. Curt Carpenter lost his battle with the bug after spending 51 days in the intensive care unit at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. “I know that if Curt had survived, he would have made sure everyone knew how serious this disease is, and how important the vaccine is,” his mom, Christy Carpenter, told the newspaper. Christy said her son did not take the threat of the pandemic seriously...

A California man who mocked COVID-19 vaccines has died after becoming infected with the virus. Stephen Harmon, 34, died on Wednesday at Corona Regional Medical Center, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Prior to his hospitalization, Harmon shared a series of jokes on social media about vaccines. “I got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one,” he wrote in June on Twitter.

A man who joked about not getting vaccinated died of the coronavirus a little more than a month later. Stephen Harmon's death was announced by the Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston on Twitter on Thursday. Houston wrote on Instagram that Harmon was in his early 30s, a graduate of Hillsong College, and a "vital part of our church in California." "He was one of the most generous people I know and he had so much in front of him," Houston wrote.

Making fun of Coke's virtue signaling, sanctimony and raw hypocrisy