More than half of men (55%) and two thirds (65%) of women currently aged 20 years in India will likely develop diabetes in their life time, with most of those cases (around 95%) likely to be T2DM, according to research by an international team from India, the UK and the US, led by Dr Shammi Luhar, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, UK.

Young children of African ancestry are more at risk of developing obesity if they possess a genetic variant that reduces their ability to produce the hormone leptin, according to a study, ‘Genetic Studies of Leptin Concentrations Implicate Leptin in the Regulation of Early Adiposity’, published in the journal Diabetes. Interestingly, adults with the variant do not have the same risk, suggesting that leptin plays a role in the development of obesity at a young age but the obesity does not continue into adulthood.

Researchers studying a group of UK healthcare workers discovered that non-white individuals recovering from COVID-19 displayed higher antibody levels than white individuals, with significantly greater levels observed in Asian individuals.

Patients with obesity who are over the age of 60 can lose an equivalent amount of weight as younger people using only lifestyle changes, according to a study from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, demonstrating that age is no barrier to losing weight.

In a study comparing the impact of a high-protein total diet replacement (HP-TDR) to that of a control diet (CON), a typical North American diet, researchers led by Camila Oliveira, a doctoral student at the University of Alberta, reported that a HP-TDR led to higher total energy expenditure (EE), increased fat oxidation and negative fat balance. These results suggest that a HP-TDR may promote fat loss compared with a conventional isocaloric diet.

A computer tomography (CT) scan can be predictive for the diagnosis of internal herniation (IH), if the mesenteric defect is closed following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), however, the diagnostic accuracy of a CT scan is not useful in a patient with open mesenteric defect, according to researchers from Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden and the Dutch Obesity Clinic West & LUMC, The Hague, The Netherlands. The findings, ‘Internal Herniation Incidence After RYGB and the Predictive Ability of a CT Scan as a Diagnostic Tool’, were published in Obesity Surgery.

Bariatric surgeons in Israel have reported experiencing a variance in their reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results from an anonymous web-based questionnaire sent to all active bariatric surgeons (n=63) in Israel that sought to portray the practices and attitudes of Israeli bariatric surgeons in the first phase of the pandemic.

Researchers led by MedUni Vienna have discovered the signalling pathways responsible for the development of a valuable type of adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) in obesity, which prevents lipotoxicity, the process whereby fat molecules are deposited in non-adipose tissues.

Being under 50 years of age does not protect against the dangers of COVID-19 if you are overweight, according to a study from UT Southwestern (UTSW). While all adults who are overweight or have obesity are at greater risk for serious complications from the disease, the link is strongest for those age 50 and under. More than 42 percent of American adults have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and approximately another 30 percent are overweight.