Thank you to everyone who has registered for the upcoming ASBP 62nd Annual Obesity & Associated Conditions Symposium. The symposium promises to be our largest event yet, with more than 500 obesity medicine specialists already registered! As you may recall, registrations received by the early-bird deadline of Sept. 14 were entered into a drawing to win two 1-day Park Hopper® Option admissions to Walt Disney World® Resort. We are pleased to announce and congratulate ASBP Member Dr. Edward T. Schumann of Independence, Ky., as the winner! Please remember if you have not yet registered, you now have another opportunity to win--this time a set of ASBP Obesity Course speaker books. Click here for more details.

Retention of lean mass in weight loss
Weight loss is often accompanied by the undesirable loss of fat free (lean muscle) mass (FFM). Diets with high dietary protein intake may provide additional benefits through preservation of FFM compared to a standard protein diet. However, the precise mechanism by which a high protein diet may alleviate weight loss induced reductions in FFM has not been fully elucidated. This study evaluated the effect of increased dietary protein intake and calorie restricted diets on genes involved in skeletal muscle protein synthesis and breakdown. The authors propose that the key mechanism in FFM retention with weight loss and high protein diets may involve the suppression of the protein degradation pathway to prevent muscle atrophy.

Satiation, satiety and the control of food intake
Satiation and satiety play fundamental roles in appetite control and both affect the inhibition of eating. This review article presents the definitions of satiation and satiety, along with the experimental approaches that have been used to measure them in scientific studies of human appetite. The authors address the importance of reward homeostasis, which can help prevent eating in the absence of hunger, for the control of intake.

How doctor empathy affects care
What is your empathy score? Researchers from Italy sought to determine if physician empathy is associated with clinical outcomes for patients with diabetes. They used questionnaires to measure the doctor's understanding of the patient's experiences, concerns and perspectives, as well as the ability to communicate this understanding to the patient. They found that patients with type 2 diabetes are likely to have better health outcomes if they have a doctor who shows high levels of empathy.