Active clinical trials for "Obesity"

The prevalence of obesity and asthma has significantly increased over the past two decades. The purpose of this study is to try and understand the mechanism by which obesity leads to airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), one of the defining features of asthma. This research is being done to determine how weight or body size affects airway size and airway smooth muscle (ASM) tone and function. The goal of the study will be to look at if and how, weight might affect lung functioning. The investigators hypothesize that low lung volumes in obesity lead to AHR by reducing airway caliber causing increased ASM tone with impairment in deep inspiration (DI) response similar to what is seen in asthma.

Background: - Obesity is the result of many factors, including genetics and lifestyle, such as over-eating high-calorie foods and not being physically active. Obesity affects approximately one third of adults in the United States. Researchers often study individuals who are already overweight and obese, but another approach is to examine people who stay thin despite eating whatever they want and not exercising. Studying these thin individuals will enhance understanding of why some people become obese and others do not, which may lead to novel treatments for obesity. Objective: - To study the metabolism, body composition, body temperature, physical activity, and blood chemistries of healthy lean adults before and after adding 1,000 extra Calories per day to their normal diet. Eligibility: - Healthy adults, 30 to 50 years of age, who have never been overweight after adolescence, who are currently weight-stable, sedentary, and eating without restrictions. Design: - The entire study will take about 9 weeks and will include the following outpatient and inpatient visits: <TAB>- Outpatient screening visit and monitoring: Physical examination and blood test at screening; then, one week of physical activity monitoring (e.g., with a pedometer-like device called an accelerometer) and completing a food diary. <TAB>- Baseline inpatient visit (5 days): Volunteers will eat a normal diet to maintain body weight. Energy expenditure, body composition, physical fitness, activity level, and eating behavior will be measured. Urine and blood samples will be taken. Volunteers may go home for the weekend or stay at the metabolic clinical research unit (MCRU). <TAB>- Inpatient feeding week 1 (5 days): Volunteers will eat a normal diet plus milkshakes for added calories. All the same measurements during the baseline week visit will be repeated. <TAB>- Outpatient feeding weeks 2 3: Volunteers will eat breakfast at the MCRU everyday for the next 2 weeks and take prepared meals home with them (volunteers may also stay at the MCRU for the 2 weeks if they prefer). Volunteers will drink a non-radioactive (heavy) water called doubly labeled water to measure energy expenditure in their normal living environment Daily urine samples will be collected. <TAB>- Inpatient feeding week 4 (5 days): Volunteers will continue eating a normal diet plus milkshakes for added calories. This stay and measurement is identical to inpatient feeding week 1. - Volunteers will be contacted at 6 and 12 months to assess any changes in body weight, diet, and physical activity.

Study of the impact of weight loss induced by surgery (interventional group) or optimal nutritional management (control group) on sexual function in men with severe obesity

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.

This study determines whether different forms of ketones supplemented prior to a meal lower the triglyceride (fat) content in the blood of overweight and obese individuals. Through a randomized crossover design, participants (n=15) will participate in each of the following three experimental groups (no treatment control, ketone ester, ketone salt), with a 5-14 day washout period between each experimental visit.

Patient who have major traumatic injury are at risk to develop postoperative inflammatory complications such as pneumonia and lung trouble called adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study will draw blood from trauma patients are several time points after their injury to see if we can predict who is at greatest risk for developing pneumonia or ARDS based upon the results of these immune lab tests. We are particularly interested to see if this will be useful in obese patients who have a greater risk of these post trauma complications

This study aims to characterize the neurological basis of obesity and response to surgical and medical treatment by inducing adult pluripotent stem cells into neuronal cells from subjects that have demonstrated extreme response to bariatric surgery or pharmacological treatment for obesity.

A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of DNA obtained from peripheral blood of the obese patients and the normal control will be performed to find genetic marker for obesity

The objective of this study is to determine whether the metabolic, endocrine and energetic response to short term caloric restriction are factors in weight loss in subjects having gastric bypass (GB) surgery.

The objective of this study is to determine if the use of The Harmonic™ (an ultrasonic surgical instrument) in Lower Body Lift procedures reduces volume and duration of wound drainage after surgery when compared to Electro Surgery.