Allurion Technologies is one step closer to having its Elipse gastric balloon enter the US market, after company announced the PMA submission of the device to the FDA. The submission comes after Allurion raised US$34 million in new funding through a securities financing and a growth capital term loan.

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered an unexpected biological pathway by which brown fat cells can translate energy into heat - immature fat cells can generate heat without gathering fat may open opportunities to treat obesity and diabetes.

A larger thigh circumference may be associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease in people with obesity, according to a study by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China. They found that in overweight and people with obesity obese, larger thigh circumferences were associated with lower blood pressure. These findings suggest that carrying more weight on the thighs may be a marker of better heart health in Chinese people in these weight classes, who are at a greater risk of heart disease.

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) has released recommendations based on best available evidence and expert opinion from the global surgical community that will help to protect patients, their surgeons and staff from COVID-19.

The joint statement states that the virus has demonstrated a propensity to spread at an exponential rate in several countries, significantly impacting many lives and affecting our practice as healthcare professionals. The statement recommends that:

Two new studies from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) shed light on the relationship between obesity and the use of prescription opioids in the United States. One study reported that joint pain, back pain, injury, and muscle/nerve pain, which prior studies have linked with obesity, emerged as important types of pain in explaining excess prescription opioid use among adults with obesity.

Patients with superobesity (BMI>50) are prone to unconscious food impulses and cravings that may make it challenging for them to maintain weight loss after bariatric surgery, according to Brazilian research that was accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020 (the Endocrine Society's annual meeting that was cancelled due to the COVIUD-19 pandemic) and will be published in a special supplemental section of the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has completed its rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for setmelanotide for the treatment of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) deficiency obesity and leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency obesity.

As patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) flood hospitals, the health care system must not only determine how to redeploy limited resources and staff to care for them but must also make well-calculated decisions to provide other types of critical care. For surgeons, this type of critical care involves performing an emergency operation to treat a ruptured appendix or perforated colon, to both virus-exposed and non-exposed patients, while keeping both hospital personnel and non-exposed patients safe.

Patients with obesity may lose more weight if they undergo bariatric surgery before they develop diabetes, according to a study, accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020 (the Endocrine Society's annual meeting that was cancelled due to the COVIUD-19 pandemic), that will be published in a special supplemental section of the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Both obesity and diabetes are common, with more than one-third of US adults are affected by these two conditions. Among patients that have obesity and diabetes, bariatric surgery can lead to remission of both of these diseases.

Dear Colleagues,

Elective bariatric surgery in both the NHS and private sectors will effectively cease for the next 3- 6 months to help the NHS cope with the extraordinary pressures that the coronavirus outbreak has brought.

In the midst of this organised chaos and uncertainty it’s important that we support each other, our colleagues and our patients.

Bariatric surgery resulted in 60% fewer fatal and non-fatal heart attacks and strokes among 3,701 men and women who had surgery, compared to the same number of patients who did not, during an average of 11 years following the surgery. In addition, patients who had bariatric surgery lost significantly more weight (an average of over 10 kg more) and type 2 diabetes was more likely to improve to the point where the patients no longer required medication to maintain normal blood sugar levels.

People with severe obesity who underwent bariatric surgery maintained significantly more weight loss at five years than those who did not have surgery, according to a Kaiser Permanente study. Although some weight regain was common after surgery, regain to within 5% of baseline was rare, especially in patients who had gastric bypass instead of sleeve gastrectomy.

Researchers generally agree that genetic and gut microbiome composition and activity are important factors in determining who has and who does not have obesity. As interest and understanding of the human microbiome increases, researchers are increasingly looking to the gut for answers that can lead to new, more effective diagnostics and therapies.

Bariatric surgery significantly reduces colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in patients with obesity to the extent that they share the same risk of colorectal cancer as the general population, according to researchers from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France. However, for patients with obesity who do not undergo bariatric surgery, the risk is 34% above that of the general population.

Endoscopic treatment of laparoscopic one anastomosis gastric bypass complications (LOAGB) complications are effective and relatively safe, according to researchers from Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. The study authors noted that anastomosis-related complications were more “amenable” to endoscopic treatment, compared to staple line leaks.

Researchers at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil, have developed a computer program that analyses molecules in blood plasma to search for biomarkers that identify individuals who are at risk of becoming overweight and developing obesity-related diseases. The project was conducted in Brazil with funding from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) .

Weight loss should not be the primary motivation behind healthy lifestyle changes, according to researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, who claim that there is a growing body of research showing that upwards of 95 percent of those who achieve any sort of meaningful weight loss will pack it back on, and then some, within a couple of years.

A team of engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is developing a virtual reality-based training device that can help train medical professionals to perform endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG). The device, known as a ViBE (Virtual Bariatric Endoscopic) simulator is being supported by a grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered why obesity causes high blood pressure and identified potential ways of treating that form of high blood pressure. Small arteries in our body control blood pressure. Scientists have suspected that hypertension in obesity is related to problems in endothelial cells that line these small arteries. The reasons for this, however, have been unclear, until now. The researchers have already confirmed their discovery in human tissue samples and used it to reverse high blood pressure in lab mice.

Bacteria may be involved in the development of type 2 diabetes, according to a study by researchers from Université Laval, the Québec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ) and McMaster University. The authors found that the blood, liver and certain abdominal fat deposits in diabetics have a different bacterial signature than in non-diabetics.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) was associated with larger and more persistent improvements in glycaemic control and 25% lower rates of T2DM relapse compared with sleeve gastrectomy (SG) patients, according to the latest analyses from the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORNet) Bariatric Study.

A preclinical study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has shown how the weight loss drug, liraglutide, crosses the brain's blood barrier to engage with a region of the brainstem known as the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), which is responsible for balancing food intake and energy expenditure. Filling this gap meets a need that has become a priority for researchers looking for new treatments to help fight the increasing rates of obesity.

Older workers with obesity are at a higher risk of prolonged sickness absence or losing their jobs for health reasons than those of normal weight, with women affected significantly more than men, according to researchers from the University of Southampton. The study studied investigated the association between BMI and prolonged sickness absence, cutting down at work and health-related job loss among 2,299 men and 2,425 women aged between 50 and 64 years.

Patients who have bariatric surgery may face an elevated risk of bone fractures, according to a Swedish study investigating the association between different bariatric surgery procedures and fracture risk. The paper, ‘Fracture risk after three bariatric surgery procedures in Swedish obese subjects: up to 26 years follow‐up of a controlled intervention study’, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) needs to do more to address the ingrained stigma and discrimination faced by people with obesity, according to Dr Stuart Flint, Associate Professor in the Psychology of Obesity at the University of Leeds, who believes that negative attitudes around weight gain are pervasive in the NHS and they can affect the way patients are treated.

Researchers from the CNRS, Inrae, University of Burgundy, Université de Paris, Inserm and University of Luxembourg have just revealed the mechanisms in the brain that lead to feelings of satiety after eating – and involve a series of reactions triggered by a rise in blood glucose levels.  The study, ‘Postprandial Hyperglycemia Stimulates Neuroglial Plasticity in Hypothalamic POMC Neurons after a Balanced Meal’,  which was conducted on mice, was published in Cell Reports.

Coinciding with World Obesity Day, over 100 medical and scientific organisations have pledged their support for a consensus statement that recognises unscientific public narratives of obesity as a major cause of weight stigma and calls for strong policies and legislation to prevent weight-based discrimination.