Obesity News

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease affects more than one-third of the world’s population and is associated with significant clinical and economic burden, as well as impairment of health-related quality of life.

To put it simply, diabetes and steatotic liver disease are joined at the hip. They are part of the same biological process that involves multiple organs, connected by the concept of metabolic flexibility — or lack thereof.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis is significantly more common in patients with type 2 diabetes, and most patients with MASH — formerly known as NASH — experience metabolic abnormalities, including obesity.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease is a public health threat, affecting 30% to 38% of the adult population globally. The prevalence has risen in parallel with epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Millions of dollars have been spent trying to find medications that could treat this complex disorder. The focus has been on drugs for more severe disease, as it leads to complications, and early stages have been somewhat ignored.

About 40% of cancer cases and nearly half of cancer deaths among U.S. adults aged 30 years or older can be attributable to modifiable risk factors, according to a study led by American Cancer Society researchers.

In a Healio exclusive, Andres J. Acosta, MD, PhD, highlights data demonstrating that the MyPhenome test may serve as a biomarker to determine whether a patient with obesity will be a “good responder” to semaglutide.

Adults with overweight or obesity lost more weight with the GIP/GLP-1 dual agonist tirzepatide than the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

People with type 2 diabetes who use a GLP-1 receptor agonist have a lower risk for 10 types of obesity-associated cancer compared with those who use insulin, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.

Adults with diabetes or obesity using semaglutide may have an increased risk for nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, a common form of optic neuropathy, according to data published in JAMA Ophthalmology.