The results from a large-scale observational study carried out at German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and the German Center for Diabetes Research (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Diabetesforschung, DZD), suggest that obesity and weight gain can lead to vascular disorders, the leading cause of disease and death for people with type 2 diabetes. The findings were reported in the paper, ‘BMI and BMI change following incident type 2 diabetes and risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications: the EPIC-Potsdam study’, published in Diabetologia.

The first ever outcomes from ten years of follow-up from a randomised controlled trial assessing metabolic surgery vs. conventional medical therapy, has concluded that surgery is more effective than conventional medical therapy in the long-term control of T2DM. The findings were reported in the paper, ‘Metabolic surgery versus conventional medical therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes: 10-year follow-up of an open-label, single-centre, randomised controlled trial’, published in The Lancet.

Researchers from the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) have highlighted the interconnection of obesity and impaired metabolic health with the severity of COVID-19, they reported their findings in the paper, ‘Global pandemics interconnected—obesity, impaired metabolic health and COVID-19’, published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology.

ReShape Lifesciences has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Obalon Therapeutics, under which ReShape and Obalon will combine in an all-stock transaction. Under the terms of the merger agreement that has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, existing ReShape stockholders will have majority ownership of the combined company immediately following the closing of the merger and Obalon will be renamed ReShape Lifesciences Inc.

Half of all adolescents with severe obesity have neuropsychiatric problems, according to a study led by researchers from Lund University and Gothenburg, Sweden. Two thirds of the adolescents suffered from some type of mental health problem, as reported by themselves or their parents. The outcomes were reported in the paper, ‘High prevalence of neurodevelopmental problems in adolescents eligible for bariatric surgery for severe obesity’, published in Acta Paediatrica