Author Interviews, NIH, Nutrition, Weight Research / 20.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Janet M. de Jesus, M.S., R.D. Program Officer, Implementation Science Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science (CTRIS) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for the DASH diet? What are the main components? Response: The DASH eating plan was created for a clinical trial funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The goal of the original DASH trial was to test the eating plan compared to a typical American diet (at the time in the 1990s) on the effect of blood pressure. The DASH eating plan is rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It includes low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish, legumes, vegetable oils, and nuts; and limits intake of sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat meats. The eating plan is a good source of potassium, magnesium, and calcium. The DASH eating plan was shown to reduce blood pressure and improve lipid profiles. A second DASH trial, “DASH-sodium,” showed that adding sodium reduction to the DASH eating plan reduced blood pressure even more. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pharmacology, Scripps, Weight Research / 15.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ken Fujioka M.D. Director of the Center for Weight Management Scripps Clinical Department of Endocrinology La Jolla CA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Obesity is an odd disease that has many causes (overeating, underactivity, the patient being placed on a medication that drives up weight and a whole lot of other causes that result in a higher weight) so trying to find the right treatment, in this case a weight loss medication, for a particular patient is not an easy task. If there is a way to find out if you’ve picked the right medication (a weight loss of at least 5%) then this can help you decide whether you should keep the patient on the medication or stop the medication. There are two huge benefits to this: 1. Is that you find your responders (patients) that will go on to lose weight and do well and 2. When you stop the medication in the non-responders you eliminate any potential adverse events from the weight loss medication. Thus this study was designed to find out if early weight loss can predict who will go on to lose a significant amount of weight on Liraglutide. And yes those who lose weight go on to lose weight. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Genetic Research, Weight Research / 19.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. John C. Mathers Director, Human Nutrition Research Centre Institute of Cellular Medicine and Newcastle University Institute for Ageing Newcastle University Biomedical Research Building Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle on Tyne MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: More than 90 different genetics variants are associated with body fatness and, of these, the FTO gene has the biggest effect. People who are homozygous for the unusual variant of FTO i.e. carry two copies of the risk allele, are on average 3kg heavier than those not carrying the risk allele. In addition, they have 70% greater risk of being obese. Since the FTO gene is associated with being heavier, we wondered whether it made it more difficult for people to lose weight. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pharmacology, UCSD, Weight Research / 15.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Siddharth Singh, MD, MS Postdoctoral Fellow, NLM/NIH Clinical Informatics Fellowship Division of Biomedical Informatics Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Singh: Over the last 4 years, four new medications have been approved for long-term use for weight loss by the FDA. We sought to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and tolerability of these medications through a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Based on 28 trials in over 29,000 overweight or obese patients, we observed that magnitude of weight loss achieved with these agents is variable, ranging from 2.6kg with orlistat to 8.8kg with phentermine-topiramate. Over 44-75% of patients are estimated to lose at least 5% body weight, and 20-54% may lose more than 10% of body weight; phentermine-topiramate was the most efficacious, whereas lorcaserin was the best tolerated. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Weight Research / 28.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Evelyn Parr Research Officer / PhD Candidate | Centre for Exercise and Nutrition Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research Australian Catholic University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Results from previous investigations suggest that compared to a healthy 'control' diet, increased consumption of dairy foods in an energy restricted diet lead to improved body composition (i.e., a loss of fat mass and the maintenance of lean mass). We investigated the effects of manipulating  the type of dairy foods (i.e., low- or high fat) within high protein, energy restricted diets on body composition and selected health parameters. Eighty-nine middle-aged (35-59 y), male and females who were overweight or obese completed a 16 week intervention comprising 3 d/wk supervised resistance training and 4 d/wk unsupervised aerobic -based exercise (i.e. walking). During this time they consumed a diet that was energy restricted by 250 kcal/d comprising either 1) high protein, moderate carbohydrate (4-5 normal fat dairy product servings), 2) high protein, high carbohydrate (4-5 low-fat, carbohydrate sweetened dairy product servings or 3) a control diet of moderate protein, high carbohydrate diet (1-2 dairy servings). We found that in the face of energy restriction, when protein intakes were above the recommended daily intakes (>0.8 g/kg body mass) and regular exercise was completed, there was no difference in the loss of fat mass  (~8 kg) when participants consumed 4-5 serves of dairy products in either low- or high-fat. Furthermore, participants maintained  lean (muscle) mass throughout the energy restricted period. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition, Protein, Weight Research / 29.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Stuart M. Phillips Ph.D., FACSM, FACN Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Canada Exercise Metabolism Research Group – Protein Metabolism Research Lab Director, Physical Activity Centre for Excellence Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Phillips: During weight loss with diet only people lose both muscle and fat and muscle. The long-term health consequences of losing metabolically active muscle versus fat are not likely to be beneficial. In the context of this study we thought perhaps the preservation of muscle would also be important in very active young men. We wanted to see whether when men were in a very large energy deficit (40% less energy than they required) higher protein (2.4 g/kg/d) could preserve muscle mass and still result in increased function (strength) and fitness. Our results show that during a marked energy deficit that consumption of 2.4 g protein/kg/d was more effective than consumption of a diet containing 1.2 g protein/kg/d in promoting increases in LBM (1.2 vs 0.1kg increase) and losses of fat mass (-4.8kg vs. -3.5kg) when combined with a high volume of resistance and anaerobic exercise. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Genetic Research, Weight Research / 22.10.2015

Urszula T. Iwaniec, Ph.D. Associate Professor Skeletal Biology Laboratory School of Biological and Population Health Sciences Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Urszula T. Iwaniec, Ph.D. Associate Professor Skeletal Biology Laboratory School of Biological and Population Health Sciences Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Iwaniec: Excessive weight gain in adults is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. Unfortunately, dieting, exercise, and pharmacological interventions have had limited long-term success in weight control and can result in detrimental side effects, including accelerating age-related bone loss.  Leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells plays an essential role in weight regulation. Delivery of leptin directly into the hypothalamus by gene therapy normalizes body weight. We investigated the efficacy of using hypothalamic leptin gene therapy as an alternative method for reducing weight in skeletally-mature female rats and determined the impact of leptin-induced weight loss on bone. Our findings show that hypothalamic leptin gene therapy reduced body weight with minimal effects on bone mass or microarchitecture. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science, University of Pittsburgh, Weight Research / 21.09.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Linda J Ewing PhD RN Department of Psychiatry and Lora E Burke PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN Department of Health and Community Systems University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study was the product both of work done in Dr. Burke’s lab as well as cumulative findings of other investigators demonstrating that improved self-efficacy is related to positive changes in health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, increased Intake of healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables).  Given that, we designed a behavioral weight loss study that included an intentional focus on enhancing participant self-efficacy for healthy behaviors related to weight loss maintenance.  No previous study had self-efficacy enhancement as a focus of intervention with the long-term goal of increasing weight loss maintenance.  Thus our study focused on mastery performance of weight loss related behaviors.  Findings supported our hypothesis; participants in both arms of the study (standard behavioral weight loss (SBT) and SBT with self-efficacy enhancement (SBT+SE) achieved clinically significant weight loss.  Participants in the SBT+SE group had greater weight loss maintenance while those in the SBT group had clinically significant weight regain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Geriatrics, UCSF, Weight Research / 13.08.2015

Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sheffrin: The main drug treatments for dementia are a class of medications called cholinesterase inhibitors. They have only modest effects on cognition and function in most patients, but since they are one of the few available treatments for dementia and thus very commonly prescribed. However,they are known to cause GI side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia) in many patients when first started. It is plausible they could also caust weight loss, espeically considering they cause nausea and anorexia. However, the data on weight loss from randomized controlled trials is very limited and inconclusive, so we did a very large observational study in a real-world of the VA national healthcare system who were newly started on these medications, to see if they were associated with weight loss. We found that patient with dementia started on cholinesterase inhibitors had a substantially higher risk of clinically significant weight loss over a 12-month period compared to matched controls. 1,188 patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors were matched to 2,189 similar patients who were started on other new chronic medications. The primary outcome was time to a 10-pound weight loss over a 12-month period, as this represents a degree of loss that would be clinically meaningful – not only noticed by a clinician but would perhaps prompt further action in considering the causes of the weight loss and medical work-up. We found that starting cholinesterase inhibitors was associated with a 24% greater risk of developing weight loss. Overall, 29% of patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors experienced a weight loss of 10 pounds or more, compared with 23% of the control group. This corresponds to a number needed to harm of 21 over 1 year; meaning only 21 patients need to be treated with a cholinesterase inhibitor over the course of a year for one patient to experience a 10 pound weight loss. (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research, UCSF, Weight Research / 22.06.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leslee L. Subak, MD University of California, San Francisco Professor, Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Urology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics Chief of Gynecology, SF Veterans Affairs Medical Center UCSF Women's Health Clinical Research Center MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Subak: Urinary incontinence is very common, affecting an estimated 30 million adults in the U.S., and may account for as much as $60 billion in annual medical costs. Incontinence can cause significant distress, limitations in daily functioning, and reduced quality of life. Obesity is an important risk factor, with each 5-unit increase in body mass index – a ratio of someone’s weight divided by the square of their height – above normal weight associated with far higher rates of incontinence.   The prevalence of incontinence has been reported to be as high as 70 percent among severely obese women, and 24 percent among severely obese men (BMI greater than 40, or more than about 100 pounds greater than ideal body weight). Since obesity is a risk factor for incontinence, several studies have examined whether weight loss is a treatment for incontinence among obese people with the condition.  Clinical trials have shown the low calorie diets, behavioral weight reduction, and bariatric surgery are associated with improvement in incontinence in obese women and men through one year, but evidence on the durability of this effect is lacking. We performed this study to examine changes in urinary incontinence and identify factors associated with improvement among women and men in the first 3 years following bariatric surgery. This study included 1987women and men in the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery-2 (LABS-2) study performed at 10 hospitals at 6 clinical centers in the U.S. who underwent bariatric surgery between 2005 and 2009.  The study participants ranged in age from 18 to 78 years old – the median age was 47. The analysis controlled for factors such as age, race, smoking status and recent pregnancy.  Nearly 79 percent of the participants in the study were women with 49% reporting at least weekly incontinence, compared with 2% of men reporting incontinence. Following surgery and large weight loss of 29% for women and 26% for men, substantial improvements in incontinence were observed, with a majority of women and men achieving remission at 3 years post-surgery. The more weight lost, the higher the chances of improvement. While the risk of relapse rose with each gain of about 10 pounds, overall there was substantial improvement for both women and men. People who were older, had severe walking limitations or were recently pregnant showed less improvement. (more…)
Author Interviews, Weight Research / 05.06.2015

Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH Assistant Professor Division of General Internal Medicine Department of Medicine University of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH Assistant Professor Division of General Internal Medicine Department of Medicine University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Mitchell: Despite decades of obesity research two issues remain elusive in weight management: significant, long-term weight loss and weight loss maintenance and widely accessible programs. There are numerous weight loss programs out there, but there is little evidence of the long-term effectiveness of many programs. Furthermore, these programs may not be accessible to the general population because they are too expensive and may not be geographically available. I chose to evaluate the Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) program because I thought it had the potential to address these issues. TOPS is a nationally-available, nonprofit, low-cost, peer-led weight loss program. It costs only $92 per year--$32 is the annual fee plus local chapter dues that average about $5 per month--and any four people can start a TOPS chapter, so it can be implemented and disseminated widely. The main objective of this study was to determine the weight change for individuals who consecutively renewed their membership in TOPS. We looked at people who joined TOPS from 2005 to 2011, so they could have been followed for up to seven years. We found that people who join TOPS and consecutively renew their annual membership can lose a clinically significant amount of weight and maintain the weight loss for up to seven years. Clinically significant weight loss is defined as weight loss of at least 5% of initial weight, because with a 5% weight loss people with weight-related medical conditions, such as diabetes, can see an improvement in their conditions. Therefore, a diabetic who weighs 200 pounds may see an improvement in her blood sugar control if she loses 10 pounds. In our study, fifty percent of individuals had clinically significant weight loss in their first year in the program, and 62% of those renewed their annual membership consecutively for seven years had clinically significant weight loss at seven years. This was exciting because many people who lose weight tend to gain it back. I often say that the unfortunate natural history of weight loss tends to be weight re-gain. However, the majority of these individuals maintained a clinically significant weight loss. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Weight Research / 13.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Martin Reinhardt, MD Postdoctoral Fellow PECRB, NIDDK, NIH Phoenix, AZ 85016 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Reinhardt:  It can be very difficult for some people with obesity to lose weight despite great efforts. There is an immense deal of individual variability in weight loss success. Beyond differences in diet adherence, it is not clear what causes this variability in weight loss. Through a study conducted at our facilities at the National Institutes of Health in Phoenix, Arizona, we have now shown that individual differences in biology – more precisely, differences in the amount of energy bodies use during fasting – make it difficult for certain obese people to lose weight. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Exercise - Fitness, Weight Research / 13.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward "Ted" Weiss, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Saint Louis University Saint Louis MO Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Weiss:  Results from one of our previous study yielded a surprising result that diet-induced weight loss improved insulin sensitivity (major diabetes risk factor) by the same amount as exercise induced weight loss. We thought that the exercise-induced weight loss would have yielded benefits from the weight loss itself but also from a weight loss-independent benefit that has been reported in other studies. One explanation for dietary restriction providing the same benefit of exercise was that it also provides benefits besides those that are attributable to weight loss. Our recently completed/published study was designed to evaluate this possibility and the finding do suggest what we hypothesized... i.e. that dietary restriction provides benefits above and beyond that which are attributable to weight loss. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Johns Hopkins, Weight Research / 06.04.2015

Kimberly Gudzune, MD, MPH Assistant Professor; The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Core Faculty; Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research The Johns Hopkins Digestive Weight Loss CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kimberly Gudzune, MD, MPH Assistant Professor; The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Core Faculty; Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research The Johns Hopkins Digestive Weight Loss Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr.Gudzune: Changes in healthcare policy may encourage healthcare providers to screen their patients for obesity, so it is critical to then have a weight management plan if obesity is identified. Recent guidelines recommend that clinicians consider referring patients to high intensity weight loss programs. Commercial weight loss programs may be one of the options available, so providers need to know which programs help people lose weight and keep it off. We found that only 11 out of 32 programs that we looked at had rigorous studies reporting on weight loss, which means that we do not know whether most programs work. Several well-known commercial programs have been scientifically tested and two programs, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, achieved significant weight loss that was sustained 12 months later. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Lifestyle & Health, Weight Research / 18.03.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sirpa Soini, MHC, researcher Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care University of Helsinki Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Short-term weight loss is often successful, but he obtained results are difficult to maintain. Therefore, a study focusing on obese people who successfully lost weight, with special  emphasis upon methods applied and background factors, is of major importance. Many people are successful in losing weight by themselves without taking part in any organized group activity. The knowledge about their success and the methods applied does not usually reach the health care personnel and is one reason why it is difficult to get reliable information about those who are successful in losing weight. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science, Weight Research / 08.03.2015

Margaret C. Campbell, Phd | Professor | Marketing Chair, Doctoral Curriculum Program Committee 437 Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0419MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Margaret C. Campbell, Phd | Professor | Marketing Chair, Doctoral Curriculum Program Committee 437 Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0419   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Campbell: People try to maintain healthy body weights, attain academic and career success, save money for a car, a house, or retirement, and achieve a host of other goals that require repeated, goal-consistent behaviors. Unfortunately, consumers’ efforts often fall short. For example, 68% of Americans are overweight (Weight Control Information Network 2010), 46% who begin college do not graduate within six years (Associated Press 2006), and although 93% say that saving for retirement is important, only about 60% are actually saving (TIAA-CREF 2010) and approximately 50% have accumulated less than $25,000 (Helman, VanDehrei and Copeland 2007). Understanding goal pursuit and consumers’ choices to continue effort toward a goal that requires repeated goal-consistent behaviors is thus important. People need to be able to make progress on important goals that substantially impact their quality of life. Monitoring the influence of behavior on distance from a focal goal has been identified as important for successful goal pursuit - such as weight loss. In seven experiments, we find that people tend to have a “progress bias” such that they perceive that goal-consistent behaviors (such as avoiding eating a piece of cake) help progress more than equivalent-sized goal-inconsistent behaviors (such as eating a piece of cake) hurt progress. An experiment on exercise and eating shows that the progress bias can lead to poor understanding of progress and thus, premature release of the goal. In this study, the progress bias resulted in people with a goal of expending more calories than they consumed ended up consuming more than they expended. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Weight Research / 05.03.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Christopher C. Imes, PhD, RN Assistant Professor, Acute and Tertiary Care University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Imes: Increased physical activity (PA) with reduced energy intake is the key strategy to achieve weight loss. However, in research, there are challenges to obtaining accurate PA data. Many studies rely on self-report, which is easily accessible and inexpensive but is known to have numerous limitations. Pedometers are a relatively inexpensive and accessible method to objectively measure certain aspects of physical activity. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the associations between self-reported physical activity, pedometer step count data and weight loss during the first 6-months of the Self-Efficacy Lifestyle Focus (SELF) trial. All participants in this trial were instructed to reduce their calorie and fat intake, were encouraged to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderately intense PA/week or 7500 steps/day, and to self-monitor their diet and physical activity. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Imes: Change in self-reported physical activity from baseline to 6 months was not associated with weight change. However, average daily step count, derived from pedometers given to participants during the same time period, was associated with weight loss. More daily steps results in more weight loss. The participants who averaged over 7500 steps/day lost about 9.5% of their initial body weight; whereas, the participants who averaged less than 5000 steps/day only lost about 5.0%. (more…)
Author Interviews, Weight Research / 17.01.2015

Sue Shapses, PhD Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences Acting Chair, Department of Exercise Sciences and Sports Studies Rutgers, The State University New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8525MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sue Shapses, PhD Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences Acting Chair, Department of Exercise Sciences and Sports Studies Rutgers, The State University New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8525 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Shapses: Improving health outcomes through dieting and weight loss is encouraged for the majority of Americans who are either overweight or obese. However, while most studies show that a moderate reduction in body weight decreases obesity related comorbidities, there may also be loss of bone and muscle in older individuals. Specifically in postmenopausal women, intentional moderate weight loss results in a 1-2.5% bone loss when compared to a weight stable group. Studies in men, designed to address the effect of weight reduction at multiple bone sites, compartments and geometry, are currently lacking. In addition, while a higher body weight is associated with higher bone mass, evidence indicates that bone quality, a predictor of fracture risk, is compromised in the obese. It is possible that frequent dieting or weight cycling in these obese individuals may have deleterious effects on bone. Therefore, understanding whether bone quality changes with weight loss, is important to better predict osteoporosis risk in this population. In this controlled trial, the effect of dietary restriction on bone mineral density (BMD), geometry and strength were examined in middle aged and older obese/overweight men. In addition, we addressed whether endocrine changes associated with weight loss explain bone changes. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 31.12.2014

Jeffrey A. Gusenoff, MD Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery Co-Director, Life After Weight Loss Program Co-Director, BodyChangers Director, Post-Bariatric Body Contouring Fellowship UPMC Department of Plastic SurgeryMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeffrey A. Gusenoff, MD Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery Co-Director, Life After Weight Loss Program Co-Director, BodyChangers Director, Post-Bariatric Body Contouring Fellowship UPMC Department of Plastic Surgery Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gusenoff: With the rise in massive weight loss patients from bariatric surgery or diet and exercise, more patients are choosing to have a thighplasty to remove excess skin of the inner thigh. Many techniques exist for treating this, but there aren't many studies that look into the safety of these procedures in massive weight loss patients. What we found is that  many patients have scars that go all the way down the thigh with a fairly high complication rate of almost 70%. (more…)
Author Interviews, PLoS, Weight Research / 22.12.2014

Elina Helander, PhD Personal Health Informatics Department of Signal Processing Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, FinlandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elina Helander, PhD Personal Health Informatics Department of Signal Processing Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Helander: Frequent or at least regular self-weighing is a part of behavioral therapy in many weight programs. However, self-weighing frequency typically varies over time. We analyzed almost 3,000 weight observations from 40 overweight individuals that participated in a 1-year health promotion program. These individuals were instructed to weigh themselves daily but eventually had varying self-weighing frequencies. We examined how different self-weighing frequencies of the same individual were linked with weight changes. We found that weight loss generally occurred during daily weighing. When there were longer breaks in self-weighing such as one month or more, there was a risk of weight gain.  We also computed a theoretical minimum self-weighing frequency for having no weight gain that was 5.8 days in our study. That corresponds approximately weekly weighing. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science, Weight Research / 19.11.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hanna Konttinen, PhD, Docent Post-doctoral researcher Department of Social Research University of Helsinki Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Konttinen: Bariatric surgery yields significant weight reduction for the majority of severely obese individuals with accompanied improvements in health status and health-related quality of life. Nonetheless, slow weight regain over time is frequent and there is a need for a better understanding on the factors that influence long-term post-surgical weight outcomes. To our best knowledge, this was the first study to examine whether psychological aspects of eating behavior predicted weight changes 10 years after surgical and conventional treatment for severe obesity. The participants were from the Swedish Obese Subjects intervention study: 2010 obese subjects who underwent bariatric surgery and 1916 contemporaneously matched obese controls who received conventional treatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science, Weight Research / 23.10.2014

Dr. Michelle Lent PhD Geisinger Health SystemMedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Michelle Lent PhD Geisinger Health System Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Lent: Previous study findings indicate that weight bias relates to a number of adverse outcomes in overweight and obese populations, including binge eating, psychological disorders and body image issues. In this study, we measured the degree to which people undergoing weight-loss surgery translate “anti-fat” attitudes into negative beliefs about themselves before surgery (known as “internalized weight bias”) and if this influences weight loss outcomes after surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research, University of Pittsburgh, Weight Research / 03.10.2014

Anita P. Courcoulas M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S Professor of Surgery Director, Minimally Invasive Bariatric & General Surgery University of Pittsburgh Medical Center MedicalResearch.com Interview with:  Anita P. Courcoulas M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S Professor of Surgery Director, Minimally Invasive Bariatric & General Surgery University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Courcoulas: This paper was not a study but a summary of findings from a multidisciplinary workshop (and not a consensus panel) convened in May 2013 by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The goal of the workshop was to summarize the current state of knowledge of bariatric surgery, review research findings on the long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery, and establish priorities for future research. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Weight Research / 03.09.2014

Bradley Johnston, PhD Scientist | Child Health Evaluative Sciences Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute Assistant Professor | Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics McMaster University Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 0A4MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bradley Johnston, PhD Scientist | Child Health Evaluative Sciences Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute Assistant Professor | Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics McMaster University Toronto, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Johnston:
  • Our findings represent the first meta-analysis using advanced epidemiological methods to summarize popular branded diets for weight loss, trials having been investigated using randomized trial methodology.
  • Among the 48 original RCTs included in our NMA, low to moderate quality evidence showed that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets were associated with an approximate 8 kg weight loss at 6 months when compared to no diet. Approximately 1-2 kg of this effect was lost by 12-months.
  • Although statistical differences existed among several of the diet macronutrient classes, the differences were small and unlikely to be important to those seeking to lose weight.
  • Similarly, our results showed that although there are statistically significant differences between some of the brand named diets, these differences are small and not likely patient important.
  • In terms of potential effect modifiers, behavioural support was significant at 6-months (enhancing weight-loss by 3.23 kg) and exercise was significant at 12-months (enhancing weight loss by 2.13 kg)
  • Regarding our sensitivity analyses, Differences in weight loss were not clinically important based on risk of bias, missing data, baseline weight, gender, and those with and without specific health conditions
  • Overall, our findings suggest that patients may choose, among those associated with the largest weight loss, the diet that gives them the least challenges with adherence.
(more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Nutrition / 08.08.2014

Brie Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., M.S., R.D. Assistant Professor University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Discovery Columbia, SC 29208MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brie Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., M.S., R.D. Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Discovery Columbia, SC 29208  Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Turner-McGrievy: This study assessed how closely crowdsourced ratings of foods and beverages contained in 450 pictures from the Eatery mobile app as rated by peer users using a simple “healthiness” scale were related to the ratings of the same pictures by trained observers. Our trained observers used a rating scale based on the U.S. Dietary Guidelines to assess the healthiness of the foods and beverages in each picture. Crowdsourcing uses the input of several users to provide feedback and information. We found that all three trained raters’ scores was highly correlated with the peer healthiness score for all the photos. In addition, we found that peer ratings were in the expected direction for both foods/beverages the Dietary Guidelines say to increase and ones to limit. Photos with fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, nuts, and seeds were all associated with higher peer healthiness scores and processed, food from fast food restaurants, refined grains, red meat, cheese, savory snacks, sweets/desserts, and sugar sweetened beverages were associated with lower peer healthiness scores. (more…)
Author Interviews, Weight Research / 23.07.2014

Jennifer Keogh PhD, MSc, APD Associate Professor Dietetics and Nutrition Fellow of the South Australian Cardiovascular Research Development Program School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences University of South AustraliaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer Keogh PhD, MSc, APD Associate Professor Dietetics and Nutrition Fellow of the South Australian Cardiovascular Research Development Program School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences University of South Australia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Keogh: A variety of weight loss strategies are needed to help individuals lose weight and maintain weight loss.  In this study we investigated the effects on weight loss of an intermittent energy restricted diet using a ‘week-on, week-off’ strategy compared to a continuous energy restricted diet after 8 weeks and on maintenance of weight loss at 12 months in healthy overweight and obese women. Using a group setting participants were advised to reduce their energy intake to approximately 5500 kJ per day when restricting their intake. The diet plan used was based on the previously published CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Weight Research / 28.06.2014

Kathryn A. Kaiser, Ph.D. Department of Biostatistics Ryals Public Health Bldg, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kathryn A. Kaiser, Ph.D. Department of Biostatistics Ryals Public Health Bldg, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kaiser: Recommendations to increase or home delivery of fruits and vegetables to increase intake results in no significant weight loss or gain in adults studied over 8-16 weeks. (more…)