Everyday discrimination in a racially diverse sample of patients with obesity.

Weight discrimination affects a significant proportion of individuals with obesity and contributes to poor mental and physical health. Prior research on weight discrimination has been limited by a lack of racial diversity in samples and has not considered other potential forms of discrimination that individuals with obesity may experience. The current study assessed different reasons for discrimination in a racially diverse sample of treatment-seeking individuals with obesity (N = 122, 66.4% black, mean body mass index = 38.5 ± 6.2 kg/m2 ). Results showed that over half of participants reported experiencing at least one form of repeated discrimination, and 30% reported two or more reasons for discrimination. Race and weight were the most commonly reported reasons for repeated, everyday instances of discrimination. Among participants who reported experiencing weight discrimination (28.7%), over 80% reported experiencing at least one other form of discrimination, with 60% reporting discrimination due to race. These findings indicate that individuals with obesity may face multiple forms of discrimination in their daily lives. Further research is needed to understand how all forms of discrimination contribute to obesity-related health problems.

A randomized controlled trial of lorcaserin and lifestyle counselling for weight loss maintenance: changes in emotion- and stress-related eating, food cravings and appetite.

Anti-obesity medication may help people maintain diet-induced reductions in appetite. The present exploratory analysis assessed the effects of lorcaserin on changes at 24 weeks post-randomization in emotion- and stress-related eating, food cravings and other measures of appetite (i.e. binge eating, cognitive restraint, disinhibition, hunger, preoccupation with eating and fullness). The parent study investigated the efficacy of combined lorcaserin and behavioural treatment in facilitating weight loss maintenance (WLM) in 137 adults (mean age = 46.1 years, 86.1% female, 68.6% black) who had lost ≥5% of initial weight during a 14-week, low-calorie diet (LCD) run-in. Participants were randomly assigned to lorcaserin or placebo and were provided with group WLM counselling sessions. Emotion- and stress-related eating, food cravings and appetite were measured at the start of the LCD (week -14), randomization (0) and week 24. From randomization, lorcaserin-treated participants had significantly greater improvements in emotion- and stress-related eating compared to placebo-treated participants (P = 0.04). However, groups did not differ significantly after randomization in changes in the frequency of food cravings, binge eating or other measures of appetite (Ps > 0.05). Compared to placebo, lorcaserin may improve emotion- and stress-related eating.

Comparative impact on prostanoid biosynthesis of celecoxib and the novel nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug CG100649.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) elevate cardiovascular risk by disrupting cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-dependent biosynthesis of prostacyclin (PGI(2)). CG100649 is a novel NSAID proposed to inhibit both COX-2 and carbonic anhydrase (CA)-I/-II. We compared its impact on prostanoid biosynthesis with that of celecoxib, an NSAID purposefully designed to selectively inhibit COX-2. In a controlled, double-blind randomized trial, single oral doses of 2 or 8 mg CG100649, 200 mg celecoxib, or placebo were well tolerated by healthy volunteers (n = 23). Both CG100649 and celecoxib had the effect of depressing urinary excretion of 2,3-dinor-6-keto-PGF(1α) (PGI-M); the effect of CG100649 was dose-dependent and more sustained (up to 240 h after the dose) than that of celecoxib. Neither CG100649 nor celecoxib significantly inhibited COX-1-dependent prostanoid formation. CA inhibition was not detected after administration of CG100649, despite its partitioning asymmetrically into erythrocytes. CG100649 and celecoxib are both relatively selective inhibitors of COX-2, but they differ in duration of action. Whether they have similar impact on cardiovascular events remains to be determined.