Hacker News with Generative AI: Obesity

Calorie-free sweeteners can disrupt the brain's appetite signals (keck.usc.edu)
A study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that a common sugar substitute alters brain activity related to hunger and increases appetite, especially in people with obesity.
Short-term dietary changes can lead to obesity, shows research (theconversation.com)
After a long, stressful day at work, or when pressed for time, the temptation to have a quick, satisfying snack – like crisps or a chocolate bar – can be strong. Research shows that these ultra-processed, high-calorie foods play a significant role in the development of obesity, but the lasting effects these foods have on the brain was not clear – until now.
The Role of Brown Fat and Circadian Rhythms (gethealthspan.com)
Circadian rhythms regulate numerous physiological processes, including metabolism, and their disruption is increasingly linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorders. Concurrently, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has emerged as a key player in metabolic health, capable of burning calories through thermogenesis and significantly influencing glucose and lipid metabolism. Recent evidence indicates that BAT activity is strongly influenced by circadian timing, exhibiting diurnal fluctuations that peak in the morning.
Married men three times more likely to be obese than unmarried men, says study (news.sky.com)
Being married triples the risk of men becoming obese, research suggests.
New anti-obesity drugs outperform Ozempic (elpais.com)
For decades, people who are overweight have been given simple advice: move more and eat less. However, in more than 80% of cases, this approach only works in the short term.
60% of adults will be overweight or obese by 2050, study says (japantimes.co.jp)
Nearly 60% of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, a large new study said Tuesday.
New anti-obesity drugs outperform Ozempic (elpais.com)
For decades, people who are overweight have been given simple advice: move more and eat less. However, in more than 80% of cases, this approach only works in the short term.
Hotdogs and motorways: The ripples created by Denmark's Ozempic and Wegovy boom (bbc.com)
American demand for weight-loss drugs is supercharging Denmark’s economy and transforming a small Danish community into an unlikely boomtown.
New obesity drugs are coming: these are the ones to watch (nature.com)
Dozens of new obesity drugs are coming: these are the ones to watch
% Obesity by Country Ranking (worldobesity.org)
Prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30kg/m²)
The Physicians Are Healing Themselves, with Ozempic (nytimes.com)
At cardiology conferences and diabetes meetings, doctors can’t help noticing that thin seems to be very in.
You've Lost Weight Taking New Obesity Drugs. What Happens If You Stop? (nytimes.com)
Many patients are eager to discontinue Wegovy or Zepbound when their weight loss plateaus. But doctors say it’s difficult to go cold turkey.
Weight-loss surgery down 25 percent as anti-obesity drug use soars (2024) (news.harvard.edu)
A new study examining a large sample of privately insured patients with obesity found that use of drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy as anti-obesity medications more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. During that same period, there was a 25.6 percent decrease in patients undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery to treat obesity.
Obesity drugs: study highlights new health risks (nature.com)
Blockbuster obesity drugs such as Ozempic have been celebrated for their ability to treat weight loss and a surprising range of other conditions, from heart issues to Parkinson’s disease. Now, an analysis of data from nearly 2 million people is revealing new insights into the effects of these medications — including the risks they pose.
Why is the American diet so deadly? (newyorker.com)
Food scientists are investigating a possible cause of the obesity epidemic which wasn’t named until the twenty-first century: ultra-processed foods.
As obesity skyrockets, Dietary Guidelines go from pro-vegetable to anti-meat (uncertaintyprinciples.substack.com)
As obesity rates skyrocket, Dietary Guidelines go from being pro-vegetable to anti-meat. How'd that happen?
Pfizer Stopped Us from Getting Ozempic Decades Ago (nytimes.com)
They called 2023 the year of Ozempic, but it now seems GLP-1 drugs might define an entire decade — or an even longer era.
The strange link between obesity and corruption (bigthink.com)
Corruption makes you fat — that’s the hypothesis behind a creative study that compared body mass index (BMI) with conventional measures of corruption in post-Soviet countries.
Obesity is down in the US in a decade (bloomberg.com)
Obesity is down in the US for the first time in a decade. A new study suggests weight-loss drugs may explain why.
Being overweight overtakes tobacco smoking as the leading disease risk factor (scimex.org)
Living with overweight or obesity has overtaken tobacco smoking as the leading risk factor contributing to disease burden in 2024, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Social drinkers on obesity drugs lose the taste for alcohol (npr.org)
Many social drinkers who take obesity medications, such as Wegovy or Mounjaro, say they don't enjoy alcohol as much.
208 million Americans are classified as obese or overweight (theconversation.com)
Nearly half of adolescents and three-quarters of adults in the U.S. were classified as being clinically overweight or obese in 2021. The rates have more than doubled compared with 1990.
Fat Cells Remember Obesity, Driving the Yo-Yo Effect (technologynetworks.com)
Researchers uncover how epigenetic memory in fat cells drives the yo-yo effect, making weight regain more likely.
Fat cells have a memory of obesity – hinting at why it's hard to keep weight off (nature.com)
Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research1 shows — a finding that might help to explain why it can be hard to stay trim after a weight-loss programme.
Fat cells have 'memory' of obesity – hinting at why it's hard to keep weight off (nature.com)
Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research1 shows — a finding that might help to explain why it can be hard to stay trim after a weight-loss programme.
Fat cells have a 'memory' of obesity – why it's hard to keep weight off (nature.com)
Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research1 shows — a finding that might help to explain why it can be hard to stay trim after a weight-loss programme.
Three-Quarters of U.S. Adults Are Now Overweight or Obese (nytimes.com)
Nearly three quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to a sweeping new study.
Weight-loss surgery down 25 percent as anti-obesity drug use soars (news.harvard.edu)
A new study examining a large sample of privately insured patients with obesity found that use of drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy as anti-obesity medications more than doubled from 2022 to 2023.
New study finds obesity operations dropped 25.6% in 2023 due to GLP-1 drugs (statnews.com)
For people with obesity, surgeries that shrink, reshape, or otherwise alter the anatomy of the stomach have long reigned supreme as the surest way to weight loss. But in the last few years, with the approval of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, more and more people are opting for obesity medicines over gold-standard surgical treatments.
It's not just obesity. Drugs like Ozempic will change the world (economist.com)
Every day seems to bring more exciting news. First the drugs tackled diabetes. Then, with just an injection a week, they took on obesity. Now they are being found to treat cardiovascular and kidney disease, and are being tested for Alzheimer’s and addiction. It is early days yet, but glp-1 receptor agonists have all the makings of one of the most successful classes of drugs in history.