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Kathy Schwartz was 10 years free from alcohol, cigarettes and opiates however day-after-day it was painful to regulate her cravings. “They were always in the background,” she says. In June final 12 months, nevertheless, this noise fell silent.
Prescribed the weight-loss drug semaglutide, she not solely misplaced almost 30 kilograms over 10 months, but in addition her need to achieve for a drink or take some tablets. “I do not crave, which I didn’t think would be a side effect,” says Schwartz. Remarkably, the despair and nervousness that might beforehand come over her in waves additionally calmed down.
Schwartz isn’t alone on this expertise. New analysis is revealing the shocking mind and psychological well being advantages of semaglutide medication resembling Ozempic and Wegovy, and different associated diabetes and weight-loss medication that mimic a intestine hormone launched after consuming.
It’s early days, however there are hints that these medication could possibly be repurposed to deal with despair, nervousness, habit and even sure consuming issues – in addition to neurological situations resembling Parkinson’s illness and Alzheimer’s. What’s extra, it appears that evidently these results aren’t simply mediated through weight reduction, however by way of direct motion on the mind.
The story of medicine like Ozempic begins again within the Seventies and Eighties when researchers found {that a} intestine hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) may stimulate insulin manufacturing when injected into rodents within the lab. Extra surprisingly, these animals began consuming much less and reducing weight. We now know that the hormone results in an elevated feeling of fullness.
Semaglutide and extra
At the moment, medication that mimic…
