LOS ANGELES LIPOSUCTION NEWS

Meridia Helps Obese Teenagers Lose Weight
Meridia (sibutramine), combined with behavioural therapy, has been shown to be effective in helping obese teenagers lose weight, according to a study carried out by Dr. R Berkowitz and team at Children Hospital of Philadelphia. The researchers found the treatment is effective for obese 12-year-olds as well. The study involved 498 12-16 year old children at 33 weight-loss clinics - all of the children were obese. [click link for full article]

Shionogi Announces Positive Results From A Phase IIa Study Of S-2367, A Novel Neuropeptide Y5 Receptor Antagonist For The Treatment Of Obesity
Shionogi & Co, Ltd. today announced positive top-line efficacy results froma Phase IIa proof-of-concept trial with S-2367, an internally discovereddrug candidate for obesity and related conditions. The unique mechanism ofaction of S-2367 involves blocking receptor binding of neuropeptide Y(NPY), a neurotransmitter involved in regulation of energy balance and foodconsumption. [click link for full article]

Online Weight Loss Tools Quickly Becoming Preferred Solution For Americans Today
More and more Americans are usingthe Internet for everything from buying a new car to paying bills andbooking vacations. Approximately 77% of Americans are now online, up from74% in 2005, and compared with 57% back in 2000.(1) Now, Americans are evendieting online -- seeking the tools, support and motivation of onlinecommunities to achieve weight loss goals. [click link for full article]

Breast Cancer Risk Increased With Weight Gain In Postmenopausal Women
Weight gain, particularly after menopause, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women, according to an article in the July 12 issue of JAMA.Background information in the article indicates that weight loss after menopause lowers circulating estrogen hormones in women, and because estrogen is directly related to breast cancer, weight loss is thought to decrease risk of the disease. [click link for full article]

Asthma - Obesity Connection: Protein Linked To Diabetes & Obesity Now Has New Role In Controlling Airway Inflammation In Asthma
Asthma - Obesity connection: protein linked to diabetes & obesity now hasnew role in controlling airway inflammation in asthma A new asthma gene provides an unexpected link between asthma and obesityaccording to a research team at Sydney's Garvan Institute, who are also partof the Cooperative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways. [click link for full article]

New Insights Into How Major Weight-loss Drugs Work
Some of the most important weight-loss drugs work by enhancing the effect of the brain chemical serotonin. These include sibutramine (trade name Meridia) and fenfluramine, which was recalled after the combination with dexfenfluramine, called fen-phen, was linked to potentially fatal heart valve abnormalities.However, little has been known about the molecular mechanism by which serotonin suppresses appetite. [click link for full article]

Teen Obesity Linked With Premature Death In Adulthood
Children and adolescents in the U.S. and around the world are becoming more overweight. A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that there may be serious consequences to that trend. Researchers found that being overweight at age 18 is associated with an increased risk of premature death in younger and middle-aged women. The study appears in the July 18, 2006 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. [click link for full article]

Safer Anti-obesity Drugs May Stem From New Insight Into How Serotonin Reduces Appetite
A study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher sheds light on how the brain chemical serotonin, when spurred by diet drugs such as Fen-phen, works to curb appetite.That knowledge could aid in the design of safer anti-obesity drugs nearly a decade after Fen-phen was banned for causing harmful side effects. [click link for full article]

Yale Researchers Find New Molecular Target For Obesity
Mice bred without the enzyme MKP-1 are resistant to weight gain despite consuming high fat foods and eating more than control mice, according to a research study published online in Cell Metabolism. "The results from this study give us new molecular clues into how metabolic homeostasis is regulated and the possibility of new therapeutic avenues to specifically combat obesity," said the senior author, Anton Bennett, associate professor,Department of Pharmacology. [click link for full article]

Obesity Experts Back Abbott Initiative
Two of Australia's leading obesity experts have rejected as "nonsense" criticism by the AMA and Labor Party of the $3 million obesity study initiative announced yesterday by Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott. [click link for full article]

More Adults This Year See Childhood Obesity As Major Problem In The U.S.
More Adults This Year See Childhood Obesity as Major Problem in the U.S. A new Wall Street JournalOnline/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll finds that a growing number ofU.S. adults see childhood obesity as a problem in the U.S., with 84 percentcalling it a "major problem," up from 77 percent from 2005. However, amongthose who are a parent or guardian of a child aged 12 and under, only 74percent say it is a major problem (compared to 70% in 2005). [click link...