In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved tirzepatide—which patients inject under their skin weekly—to treat type 2 diabetes, because in clinical trials it cut hemoglobin A1c levels (a long-term measure of blood sugar) even more than taking insulin. The FDA has not yet approved tirzepatide for weight loss. But that may soon happen.
“Unfortunately, many healthcare professionals, as well as patients, consider obesity to be a lifestyle disease; that people are just lacking in willpower,” noted Susan Yanovski, co-director of the Office of Obesity Research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in a video by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Roughly 40 percent of U.S. adults have obesity. Another 30 percent have overweight. Extra pounds raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, several cancers, and more. Here’s the latest on what’s driving weight gain and two new medications that may revolutionize its treatment.
Newspapers, milk jugs, glass bottles, aluminum or tin cans. Most people know that those items can be recycled. But what else should go in your curbside bin? Which items can cause damage if you mistakenly toss them in? And what are the odds that your “recyclable” plastic will get recycled? Here’s the low-down.
Ever stood in the supermarket wondering if you—or the planet—would be better off if you bought milk in a glass bottle rather than a carton or plastic jug? Or whether it should be a plastic, Styrofoam, or cardboard carton for eggs? Or a can or carton for soup? All packaging decisions involve a tradeoff. Here’s what to consider.
Many readers may not understand that few safeguards are in place to make sure that science is correctly interpreted and used once it is published. This post lists 10 common red flags in media stories, along with examples, that could alert readers to poor science usage.
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had released additional science-based information about GMOs on its “Feed Your Mind” website. Now FDA has added new fact sheets, infographics, videos, and instruction guides specifically tailored to consumers, health educators, and registered dietitians/registered dietitian nutritionists.
