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Bariatric surgery remains an important option for obesity, despite GLP-1 drug boom | |
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National data shows GLP-1 use increased 140 percent from 2022 to 2024 while bariatric surgeries fell 34 percent, but studies continue to demonstrate that surgery can produce greater and more durable weight loss than medication alone.
“The reality in clinical practice is that weight-loss medications have decreased the number of surgeries being performed,” said Noel Williams, MD, director of the Penn Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Program, but he emphasized that “surgery is still the gold standard in terms of weight loss.”
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Circumcision and Autism: What a new study found | |
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A study of U.S. children found no evidence linking neonatal male circumcision with autism spectrum disorder, though government leaders had previously claimed that circumcised boys were twice as likely to develop autism as those not circumcised because they were given acetaminophen.
About half of newborn males in the U.S. are circumcised in the hospital within 28 days, but analyses of autism risk in circumcised boys are scarce.
“There have been two poorly conducted studies that suggest a connection between circumcision and autism,” noted David Mandell, ScD, a professor of Psychiatry and director of the Penn Center for Mental Health.
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Improving hair loss using JAK inhibitors | |
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Advances in treatment are improving outcomes for patients with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, leading to patchy or extensive hair loss.
Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, a class of medications that block immune signaling pathways involved in the disease, can help restore hair growth and are becoming a mainstay of care, said George Cotsarelis, MD, chair of Dermatology and the Milton Bixler Hartzell Professor of Dermatology.
Patients progressing toward complete scalp hair loss may be especially good candidates for treatment because they often respond more quickly than those who have had long-standing extensive disease, he said.
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Feelings of hunger gradually return with semaglutide use | |
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A Penn Medicine study found that semaglutide continued to reduce calorie intake for at least 60 weeks in adults who were overweight or had obesity, even though participants’ feelings of hunger gradually returned over time.
Compared with placebo, people taking semaglutide consumed fewer calories per day and initially reported lower hunger, less food preoccupation, and reduced responsiveness to food rewards.
Study author Jena Tronieri, PhD, a senior research investigator at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, noted that patients may worry the drug has stopped working when hunger begins to return, but the findings suggest otherwise.
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ASTRO names radiation oncology leaders as 2026 fellows | |
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The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has announced the 2026 ASTRO Fellows, recognizing their sustained contributions to radiation oncology, cancer research, education, patient care, and service to the society. Michelle Alonso-Basanta, MD, PhD, a professor of Radiation Oncology, has been named among the honorees who will be recognized during ASTRO’s 68th Annual Meeting on September 29 in Boston.
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The science behind chronic inflammation | |
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E. John Wherry, PhD, the Barbara and Richard Schiffrin’s Distinguished Professor and chair of Systems Pharmacology & Translational Therapeutics, unpacked the emerging science of chronic inflammation, the connection between vaccines and brain health, and how decades of immune research are paving the way for more personalized medicine.
Wherry noted why sleep, exercise, and nutrition remain the foundation of a healthy immune system, where technologies like blood biomarkers may eventually fit into preventive care, and why the most exciting breakthroughs in immunology are still on the horizon.
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From ambitious young analyst to Blackstone billionaire and philanthropist | |
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A profile of Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray mentions that he and his wife Mindy founded the Basser Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine. Note: Story is in German.
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