Diabetes/Obesity

Labeling obesity as a disease may have psychological costs
Messages that describe obesity as a disease may undermine healthy behaviors and beliefs among obese individuals, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings show that obese individuals exposed to such messages placed less importance on health-focused dieting and reported less concern about weight. These beliefs, in turn, predicted unhealthier food choices. Association for Psychological Science

Israel's Oramed says oral insulin capsule trial a success
Oramed, an Israeli developer of oral drug delivery systems, said on Thursday a mid-stage trial for its oral insulin capsule for the treatment of type 2 diabetes met all primary and secondary endpoints. During the Phase 2a trial, conducted under a U.S. Food and Drug Administration new drug protocol, 30 patients with type 2 diabetes took part in an in-patient setting for one week. Reuters

Obesity-induced fatty liver disease reversed in mice
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that valproic acid, a widely prescribed drug for treating epilepsy, has the additional benefits of reducing fat accumulation in the liver and lowering blood sugar levels in the blood of obese mice. A summary of their research appears in this month’s issue of the journal Molecular Pharmacology. Johns Hopkins

Gastric banding patients should closely monitor nutrition following surgery
Patients who have had bariatric surgery may need to take dietary supplements and pay closer attention to their nutritional intake, a UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggests. The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, tracked a group of gastric banding patients and found that despite nutritional counseling over a three-month period, most still did not meet recommended daily requirements for important nutrients such as protein, vitamin D, and calcium. Eurekalert!

Gastric bypass improves insulin secretion in pigs
The majority of gastric bypass patients mysteriously recover from their type 2 diabetes within days, before any weight loss has taken place. A study at Lund University Diabetes Centre in Sweden has now shown that the insulin-producing beta cells increase in number and performance after the surgery. Eurekalert!

New study finds no reason to replace fructose with glucose
Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have found there is no benefit in replacing fructose, the sugar most commonly blamed for obesity, with glucose in commercially prepared foods. The findings, published in the February edition of Current Opinion in Lipidology, show that when portion sizes and calories are the same, fructose does not cause any more harm than glucose. Eurekalert!