View clinical trials related to Obesity.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to determine if an organized, consistent program of dietary and lifestyle counseling will prevent excessive gestational weight gain.
Asthmatics who are significantly overweight tend to have more severe symptoms, more flare ups, and are more likely to have poorly-controlled asthma when compared to other asthmatics. Researchers believe this occurs because excess adipose tissue (fat) in the bosy can cause higher-than-normal levels of leptin and lower levels of adiponectin in the blood. The researchers of this study are testing a medication called pioglitazone in overweight asthmatics because they believe it can help regulate leptin and adiponectin and that this may improve symptoms of asthma.
T-PA release is impaired in obese subjects. In order to have a better mechanistic understanding of t-PA release, we will compare t-PA release to Flow Mediated Vasodilation, Radial Artery Tonometry, and other markers of endothelial function and oxidative stress.
Pharmacokinetic models for anesthetic agents are questionable. The objective of the study is to compare the propofol and remifentanil doses required to maintain the bispectral index in the range 40-60 in two groups of patients: obese patients and lean patients
Health disparities related to obesity, pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes in the United States represent public health concerns. Given the benefit of exercise in disease prevention and management, evidence-based, cost-effective, brief interventions are needed to improve patient outcomes related to Type 2 diabetes and associated conditions. This novel behavioral intervention study connects individuals with resources within their community to affect change in their health and wellness. The aim is to connect disparate individuals to health and wellness resources to prevent the onset of diabetes. This will be accomplished through a collaborative effort with Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, Nashville Metro Parks and Recreation, and the Metro Public Health Department. A time series design will be used to assess the efficacy of physical activity counseling delivered by a health care professional, plus continued contact intervention delivered via a proactive and reactive health promotion counseling hotline that will leverage our partnership with Metro Parks versus counseling advice alone. In order to refine this intervention (Phase II) before it is executed, focus groups will first be conducted in Phase I with members of the target population in order to obtain feedback on the proposed intervention activities and materials. Qualitative findings and feasibility testing will be the basis for modifying the intervention.
A majority of patients who suffer from mental illness are treated with serotonin regulating FDA approved medications. Some of these medications also block histamine transmission, increase blood prolactin levels, induce insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and promote sedation. All of which lead to weight gain and obesity. Many of these drugs are generally safe and effective but do carry the risk of a long term side effect in that acute and gradual weight gain of 10-30 pounds over a few months to a year of treatment. The detrimental gain of 7% of pre-drug weight is reported with many antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and some antidepressants. This weight gain may subsequently add to medical co-morbidity ( ie diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, coronary artery diseasem, hyperlipidemia… ) This therapeutic manipulation of brain serotonin functioning may be associated with abnormal increases in carbohydrate cravings, consumption and weight gain. It is possible that insulin resistance occurs as a direct effect or as an indirect effect of weight gain, particularly in patients prone to weight gain or diabetes due to genetic loading. Leptin, a chemical associated with feedback signaling that reduces appetite and adipose tissue growth may also become insensitive. These multiple insults may lead to the worst weight gain in patients taking clozapine, olanzapine, and mirtazapine. Diet and exercise and lifestyle modification are the usual initial interventions, though being depressed, anxious, bipolar, or schizophrenic often interferes with the ability to make these changes. In fact most of the studies which look at these weight loss interventions occur in patients who are institutionalized, on restricted diets and may respond to token economy systems while on longer term inpatient unit stays. This token economy approach is not easily translated to usual outpatient or short term inpatient practice settings. In these settings, if lifestyle modification approaches fail, patients may be placed on FDA approved diet medications (sibutramine, orlistat, ionamin…) which carry significant side effect risks. Some patients are even placed on the epilepsy medications such as zonisamide or topiramate at an even greater side effect risk. In a similar weight gain prone group, there is growing literature in the diabetes population that the use of high dose chromium improves (lowers) insulin resistance by way of increasing insulin binding to cells, receptor numbers, and insulin receptor kinase activity. Lower fasting blood glucose levels in the blood generally occurs. Some reports show a reduction in blood lipid/cholesterol levels at higher chromium dosing as well. Recently, chromium piccolinate was studied in depressed patients, especially those with atypical features (usually fatigue, weight gain, carbohydrate cravings). Although there was no change in depression symptoms overall, carbohydrate cravings improved. This paper was presented at the 2005 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta. As a foil, a few papers in non-diabetics,non-depressed healthy volunteers showed little to no effectiveness in lowering blood sugar levels. Furthermore, one investigator (JLM) has published data showing acute , clinically significant weightgain in serotonergically treated psychiatric inpatients. The authors theorize that the use of chromium may reduce carbohydrate craving, appetite and thus protect against weight gain side effects. Given this pivotal paper in the depressed population, effectiveness data in the diabetes population and some possible metabolic ties between these two populations, the author wishes to study the effect of chromium piccolinate in mentally ill subjects who are being started on serotonergic manipulating medications while in an inpatient treatment setting. These patients will be followed during their inpatient stay and then be followed after discharge for a single visit to determine acute interventional effects of chromium piccolinate. We feel chromium piccolinate is less toxic/hazardous than many of the weght loss medications that we currently use and therefore suggest a long term randomized, controlled study where subjects will receive active drug (chromium piccolinate) or placebo at the start of any serotonergic treatment while inpatient. The chromium piccolinate and the placbo will be obtained from the Nutrition 21 company, which has been approved by the FDA as a source of this product.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of TM30339 on weight loss in obese individuals after 28 days dosing.
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of home-delivered Medical Nutrition Therapy on clinical outcomes for persons with diabetes. The primary outcomes of this studies include A1c (A1C), blood glucose, blood pressure, Body Mass Index, lipid levels and other measures of disease progression and management as well as costs of medical care provided throughout the intervention period.
An innovative dietary approach to obesity, based on the set-point theory of body weight and associative learning, was developed by Seth Roberts. Roberts's approach focuses on dissociating flavor and calories by consuming small amounts of very bland but calorie-dense foods such as extra-light olive oil between meals. Roberts believes that the dissociation between flavor and calories lowers the body weight's set point, suppressing appetite and thereby inducing weight loss without causing hunger. Studying the feasibility of this approach is particularly relevant to patients taking drugs that cause increased appetite and weight gain as a side effect, as increased hunger makes the usual calorie restriction approach even more difficult than it normally is. Low-income people have a diet higher in prepackaged standardized foods, which may be one contributing factor to their higher risk of developing obesity. Specific Aims - To test the acceptance of, and the patients' compliance rate to, the Shangri-La Diet - To ascertain whether a controlled clinical trial of the Shangri-La Diet would be feasible. - To see if the weight loss documented anecdotally in many people is reproducible in patients from low-income areas who are overweight and taking prescribed medications associated with increased appetite and weight gain. Analysis: The primary end point will be acceptability of the dietary intervention as measured by the final interview and the evaluation form-is this something patients would be willing to do over the long term? This will help determine whether a controlled trial of the dietary intervention would be feasible, and provide information needed to design such a trial. Secondary outcomes will be changes in the participants' weight, waist measurements, anxiety, and depression scores
The purpose of this study is to characterize differences in the structure and function of the body fat from two different parts of the body in young, healthy men and women. We will also compare how differences in metabolism relate to characteristics of body fat and its functions.