obesity

Daniel Drucker, MD, a pioneering scientist whose research contributed to the development of the blockbuster GLP-1 medicines used to treat diabetes and obesity, was listed by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2024.

Researchers examined if childhood obesity could be prevented by leveraging a combination of health behavior counseling offered by pediatric primary care clinicians and modern digital health literacy tools.

The report supports previous clinical trials that found the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug semaglutide reduced kidney disease progression in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

The study reported in the journal Nature provides a mechanistic explanation for the “obesity paradox” — that obesity can contribute to cancer progression but also improve response to immunotherapy.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System have demonstrated in a small clinical study that “turning up the heat” on fat may help people lose weight and reduce their risk of obesity-related cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

Study authors used activity, clinical and genetic data from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program to explore the association of genetic risk of higher body mass index and the level of physical activity needed to reduce incident obesity. 

Genetic analyses suggest that branched chain amino acids may be a sensitive biomarker of early or subclinical Type 2 diabetes and could be used to identify risk and implement preventive measures.