Add one more malady to the potential risks from untreated sleep apnea: Parkinson’s disease. A new study involving 11 million U.S. veterans finds that a person’s odds of developing Parkinson’s nearly doubled if they were diagnosed with sleep apnea but hadn’t used a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device to help control it.  Having untreated…  read on >  read on >

A large majority of Americans now view obesity as a disease whose management, surgical or pharmaceutical, should be covered by insurance, according to a new poll. The online Harris poll was conducted in October among nearly 4,200 U.S. adults. The study was supported by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), which represents the nation’s gastroenterological clinicians…  read on >  read on >

Women who stop taking a GLP-1 weight loss/diabetes medication just prior to a pregnancy appear to be at higher odds for excess weight gain and complications while pregnant, new research shows. As the study authors pointed out, potential risks to the fetus of using a GLP-1 while pregnant remain unclear, so current recommendations advise discontinuing…  read on >  read on >

Researchers are standing behind new data on how people’s posteriors reflect changes linked to aging and diabetes. Shrinkage or inflammation of the gluteus maximus muscles of the buttocks may reflect frailty, sitting time, fat deposition and diabetes risk, and these changes may occur differently among men and women, the British team said. “Unlike past studies…  read on >  read on >

Fitter bodies and muscles could keep brains young and fit, too, a new study suggests. “Healthier bodies with more muscle mass and less hidden belly fat are more likely to have healthier, youthful brains,” said study senior author Dr. Cyrus Raji, associate professor of radiology and neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis,…  read on >  read on >