Medication Plus Behavior Changes Helps Obese Adolescents Lose Weight
The weight loss medication sibutramine, when combined with behavior therapy, allowed hundreds of very obese adolescents to lose an average of 14 pounds over a year, according to a multicenter study in the July 18 Annals of Internal Medicine. Adolescents in the study who received placebo (a sugar pill) gained four pounds over the year.In addition to reductions in body mass index and weight, the treated adolescents had improvements in disease risk factors associated with obesity. [click link for full article]

Stomach surgery may have a role in moderate obesity (Reuters)
Reuters - For adults who are mildly to moderately obese, gastric banding -- a popular, minimally invasive type of weight loss surgery -- appears to be more effective in reducing weight and improving health and quality of life than behavioral modification plus drug therapy, Australian investigators report.

Americans Know What They’re Missing In Their Diets
Nearly six Americans in 10 (58percent) acknowledge that they do not eat a balanced diet on a regularbasis, according to a new survey commissioned by the Council forResponsible Nutrition (CRN). Although 81 percent of those asked said thateating a balanced diet was important, only 20 percent say they eat abalanced diet every day. The survey results also showed that nearly half of U.S. [click link for full article]

No-Drug, Anti-Inflammatory Diet Yields Positive Clinical-Trial Results, Including Marked Improvement Of Metabolic Abnormalities And Rapid Weight Loss
Research about the benefits of ano-drug, anti-inflammatory, and non-special dietary supplements diet is tobe presented June 24-27 at the 2006 annual Endocrine Society's ScientificMeeting in Boston. The research's author is Frank K. Leung, M.D., a fellow of the AmericanCollege of Endocrinology, and a Harvard-trained, board-certified physicianwith more than 20 years of experience in weight-reduction management anddiabetes treatment. [click link for full article]

Low-carb diet benefits obese type 2 diabetics (Reuters)
Reuters - In motivated people who are overweight and have type 2 diabetes, a low-carbohydrate diet with some caloric restriction has lasting benefits on body weight and blood sugar control, Swedish researchers report.