| Global collaboration to develop new anti-obesity compounds | | Posted Friday, February 02, 2007 12:52:05 PM by Blog57 Team | | Healthcare products company AstraZeneca (sales: $23.95-billion) and biopharmaceutical research firm Palatin Technologies, Inc Technologies (AMEX: PTN) have announced an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration agreement to discover, develop and commercialise small molecule compounds that target melanocortin receptors. The collaboration is based on Palatin's melanocortin receptor obesity programme and includes access to compound libraries, core technologies and expertise in melanocortin receptor drug discovery and development. A near-term objective of the collaboration is to finalise selection of a lead drug candidate for clinical evaluation. Data accumulated from genetic, pharmacological and physiological studies identify the central melanocortin system as a key regulator of energy homeostasis.... | |
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| | | Gut hormone offers hope for new obesity drug | | Posted Wednesday, January 17, 2007 2:53:30 PM by Blog57 Team | | A hormone found naturally in the gut is the basis of a new drug to tackle obesity and is being developed by Professor Steve Bloom at Imperial College London's Hammersmith Hospital campus. Recent research by Professor Bloom and his team identified the role played by gut hormones in appetite control. These hormones are released when a person eats, acting as neurotransmitters to indicate to the brain to stop eating. In particular, the researchers are interested in the pancreatic polypeptide (PP), which they believe may provide a solution to appetite suppression. .... | |
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| | | Zydus Cadila files novel drug candidate for obesity disorders | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:54:01 PM by Blog57 Team | | Cadila Healthcare Ltd has filed an investigational new drug (IND) application for its new molecular entity ZYO1, which the Indian drug maker says is a novel drug candidate for treating obesity and related disorders with the DCGI. According to Cadila, ZYO1 is a novel experimental drug working through CB-1 mechanism, to help obese patients lose weight, and also help in controlling blood sugar levels in type2 diabetes. The drug could also have a role in protecting the heart. It says its recently concluded pre-clinical studies on ZYO1 have reported interesting and encouraging findings which indicate a novel molecule with superior pre-clinical profile and remarkably better safety profile. "The only other drug that has gained approval in the CB-1 class, says Cadila, is Rimonabant, and since its approval, the diet drug has been clouded in controversy due to side effects like nausea, vomiting and an increase in psychiatric liabilities," says a communiqué from the company in a release to the stock exchanges.... | |
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| | | How diet, obesity and even gum disease may affect immune system and cancer | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 10:53:32 PM by Blog57 Team | | BOSTON -- The immune system is fickle, and easily influenced by more than just viruses and bacteria. It can be swayed by the seemingly unexpected, such as by what we eat, for example, and affected by surprising sources. At the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting, scientists are taking a closer look at the link between increasingly common lifestyle factors, the immune system and cancer, with the ultimate goals of preventing and better understanding cancer development. A Prospective Study of Periodontal Disease and Pancreatic Cancer Can diseased gums increase the risk of pancreatic cancer? Epidemiologists at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston think it could, at least according to the findings of a study analyzing 16 years of health data on more than 52,000 men.... | |
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| | | Sanofi-Aventis gets Mexican approval for obesity drug | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 6:55:38 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sanofi-Aventis has reported that Acomplia, a medicine that targets obesity risk factors, has received marketing approval from the Mexican Health Authorities. The authorities have granted registration for Acomplia as an adjuvant to diet and exercise in obese and overweight patients for those with diabetes and in combination with conventional treatments such as metformin or sulfonylurea. .... | |
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| | | Abdominal obesity in US kids increased over 65 pc since 1990s | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 2:55:42 PM by Blog57 Team | | Washington, Nov 7: Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that abdominal obesity in American kids increased more than 65 per cent amongst boys, and almost 70 per cent amongst girls between 1988 and 2004. The new findings are deemed to be significant, as abdominal obesity has emerged as a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk than the more commonly used Body Mass Index, a weight to height ratio that can sometimes be misleading.The study published in the journal Pediatrics, shows that the increased abdominal obesity has put these children at a higher risk of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes and metabolic syndrome.However, by shifting to an improved lifestyle for weight loss, these children can reverse the health effects that abdominal obesity may have on them.... | |
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| | | Coalition to fight local obesity by funding trails, gym | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:00:17 AM by Blog57 Team | | A Cowlitz County healthy lifestyle coalition has received a needed shot in the arm from funds created to combat obesity in Southwest Washington and Oregon.Pathways 2020 and Cowlitz on the Move was awarded $74,454 for a three-year period to help with projects such as a regional trails program and a community gymnasium. The money also bolsters the coalition's coffers. The group stated in 2005 with a $50,000 state grant."This helps us keep everything moving ahead because without it, we would have been scaling back," said Paul Youmans of Pathways 2020 who helps lead the coalition along with Cowlitz County Health Department workers. "And just within the first year and a half, the success the community has had makes it really important that the coalition continues."The grant is from the Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Nutrition, a fund created through contributions from Kaiser Permanente Northwest, CareOregon, PacificSource Charitable Foundation, and The Northwest Health Foundation.... | |
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| | | OHSU obesity research wins award | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 6:58:26 AM by Blog57 Team | | An Oregon researcher has received an international award for his work on obesity. Roger Cone is the director of the new Center for the Study of Weight Regulation and Associated Disorders at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. His lab discovered an important part of the thermostat-like mechanism of the brain that controls weight and energy consumption - much like a thermostat controls the temperature in a home. The control mechanism remembers a person's weight before starting on a diet - and actually works to get the body back to that original weight. The award was presented last week during a meeting of the European NeuroEndocrine Association in Athens, Greece. ©2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.... | |
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| | | Strategies to fight youthful obesity | | Posted Sunday, October 29, 2006 2:57:13 AM by Blog57 Team | | BOSTON - Scientists say the childhood obesity epidemic in this country has to be halted. If not, the health of millions of American young people will be jeopardized. Currently, one-third of U.S. children and teens - about 25 million kids - are overweight or obese, increasing their risk of developing diabetes, high cholesterol and other health problems. Weight-loss researchers presented dozens of studies on children during the weekend at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society. USA TODAY'S Nanci Hellmich asks several top researchers to share their best advice to parents:Invest in a stair stepper to get your kids off the couchTo get kids off the couch, parents should invest in a portable stair stepper (costs $70-$110) for their children to use while watching their favorite shows, says James Levine, an endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who has studied differences in how much kids and adults move during the day."This is so simple.... | |
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| | | Trim 'n' taught to fight obesity | | Posted Saturday, October 28, 2006 1:37:13 PM by Blog57 Team | | A PERTH school has launched a groundbreaking program to help a generation of overweight and unfit students turn their lives around. Cecil Andrews Senior High School, in Armadale, has devoted the entire Term 4 curriculum for Year 9s to ``healthy lifestyles'' education. The program includes daily circuit training, aerobics, tai chi and yoga, combined with health and nutrition education in every subject area. The program has been running two weeks, but teachers are already reporting that students are better behaved and more relaxed and attentive. Social studies and English teacher Dawn Blundell devised the program because she was concerned about students' health and the impact on their learning. "I'm not trying to change the world,'' she said. ``But just as a mother, as well as being a teacher, when I read that this generation of kids would probably be the first to not live as long as their parents, that scared me a little.... | |
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