Obesity Medicine

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- Only one in three patients who are told they have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have had that diagnosis confirmed with spirometry.

BOSTON -- After curative surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer, patients who ate a high-fat diet were more likely to have a recurrence than those who ate a so-called prudent diet, researchers here reported.

BELFAST, Ireland -- Sedentary adults who took a brisk half-hour walk on only three days a week lost weight and were rewarded with improved fitness and cardiovascular benefits, researchers reported.

NEW YORK -- As breast cancer diagnosis and treatment options grow more complex, race plays a larger role in survival, researchers here reported.

DALLAS -- For assessing obesity's impact on atherosclerosis risk, the waist-to-hip ratio tops body mass index and waist circumference, investigators here found.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Better diabetes detection over the past 25 years has actually reduced estimates of skyrocketing disease and shifted disparities from race and ethnicity to education.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Diet food may train young rats-and possibly children-to overeat by confusing calorie-content cues, researchers said.

WATERTOWN, Mass. -- Statins do not seem to reduce production of circulating testosterone and related androgens, researchers here reported.

NEW YORK -- Bone-generating osteoblasts secrete a protein that appears to regulate insulin function and glucose metabolism, revealing an endocrine role for the skeleton, researchers here said.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Common complaints of aging such as memory problems, falls, or incontinence may be overlooked by clinicians focused on chronic diseases, found investigators here.

ATLANTA -- About 30% of babies born in the U.S. in 2004 were exclusively breastfed for the first three months and by six months only 11.3% of babies were exclusively breastfed, CDC investigators found.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Obesity is more than twice as likely to be treated seriously if physicians jot the formal diagnosis down in medical records -- a relatively uncommon act by clinicians here.

A 39-year-old woman complained of excruciating pain that radiated from a chronic lesion on the left upper lip to the entire left side of the face. She had AIDS but was not receiving antiretroviral therapy.

A large right adrenal mass was noted incidentally on an MRI scan of the lumbar spine, which had been performed for other reasons in a 55-year-old non-obese woman. The bright heterogeneous mass (T2-weighted image) measured 6.2 3 6.2 3 4.1 cm and sat like the head of a serpent on the superior pole of the right kidney. Its margins were smooth, but signal intensity was increased on T2 weighting because of high water content. The left adrenal gland was normal.

GOLDEN, Colo. -- Practice makes better bariatric surgery, with fewer complications and quicker hospital stays, according to investigators here.

NEW YORK -- Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, particularly those treated with cranial radiotherapy, tend to lead a dangerously sedentary lifestyle as adults, found researchers here.

BOSTON -- Obesity tends to spread widely through a person's social and family ties, even as far as a friend's friend's friend, researchers found.

BOSTON -- Soft drinks, whether diet or regular, are associated with substantially increased risk of metabolic syndrome among middle-age adults, according to a large community-based study.

BOSTON -- Obesity's link to multiple myeloma has received new corroboration from an analysis of data from two large studies of health care professionals.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Combining two classes of renin inhibition led to significantly lowered blood pressures than did treatment with either alone.

BOSTON -- Simply by reducing insulin-like signaling within the brains of mice, the creatures developed risk factors for diabetes but become long-lived, investigators here reported.

SYDNEY, Australia -- Calorie for calorie, weight loss may be easier if diets are high in foods with a low glycemic index, such as lentils, according to a systematic literature review.

MIDDLESBROUGH, England -- High-quality data are lacking to assess dietary advice for patients newly diagnosed with diabetes, but evidence does show that exercise improves glycemic control.

BALTIMORE -- Regular bedside visits from a six-foot-tall robot with a flat screen monitor for a face resulted in shorter lengths of stay following laparoscopic gastric bypasses, researchers here reported.

CARDIFF, Wales -- Men who drank at least a pint of milk daily were more than 60% less likely to develop metabolic syndrome than men who drank less milk, researchers reported here.