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HealthWatch Weight loss drugs have "no end game" amid lack of data on long-term use, former FDA commissioner warns healthwatch By Edited By May 13, 2025 / 1:03 PM EDT / CBS News Weight loss drugs have transformed how Americans lose weight, including former commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. David Kessler. But, Kessler warns there are unknowns about long-term use of the drugs and how to get people off them. "There is no end game," he said on "CBS Mornings Plus" Tuesday. "FDA allowed these medicines out without a long-term strategy." Kessler faced unexpected weight gain...

On Friday President Trump released a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year that would take a chainsaw to social, environmental and education programs. Some of the sharpest cuts are directed at housing programs that are meant to serve the poor, housing insecure and unhoused. In California, millions are served by these funds and state and local governments depend on them to operate affordable housing, rental assistance, homeless service, planning and legal programs. In a letter to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, the president’s budget director, Russel Vought, laid out $163 billion in annual spending cuts coupled with “unprecedented increases”...

A U.S. senator said a GLP-1 drug changed his life — and now he’s calling for widespread access to anti-obesity medications. In a New York Times op-ed on April 8, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wrote about his experience with Mounjaro (tirzepatide). The injectable prescription medicine is primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes. Fetterman was prescribed the medication in July 2024. “As a stroke survivor, I was interested in studies showing [Mounjaro] could significantly reduce the risk of major cardiac events,” the senator wrote. “Even though I started taking it for my heart health, I’ve been struck by how much...

Snack foods and sweet treats have seen a decline in purchases, as people reach for more nutrient-dense options.Ozempic, Mounjaro, and other glucagon-like peptide-1 medications, otherwise known as GLP-1s, are changing how Americans shop for groceries. In early January, Food & Wine published a story about how food companies are releasing all-new products or reimagining the marketing of old ones to appeal to more GLP-1 users who may be looking for specific nutrition needs like high-protein, high-fiber foods. In that story, we mentioned one tiny but important research paper by Cornell University that showed that households with at least one GLP-1...

Scientists may have identified a way to naturally regulate blood sugar levels and sugar cravings in a similar fashion to drugs like Ozempic. In mice and humans, the key to unlocking this natural process was found to be a gut microbe and its metabolites – the compounds it produces during digestion. By increasing the abundance of this one gut microbe in diabetic mice, researchers led by a team at Jiangnan University in China have shown they can "orchestrate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1". Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that is naturally produced by the body and which helps regulate...

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have identified a new drug target for weight loss that curbs appetite, boosts energy use, and enhances insulin sensitivity without causing nausea or muscle loss. This discovery may pave the way for effective treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Millions worldwide benefit from weight loss drugs derived from the incretin hormone GLP-1. These medications not only aid in weight management but also enhance kidney function, lower the risk of fatal cardiac events, and show potential in protecting against neurodegeneration. However, many individuals discontinue these medications due to common side effects such as nausea...

Medications for type 2 diabetes and obesity known as GLP-1 receptor agonists may lower the risk of acute pancreatitis recurrence in people with obesity and those with type 2 diabetes, according to a study. Doctors have been cautious about prescribing these medications in patients with a history of pancreatitis due to the potential risk of worsening the condition, said Mahmoud Nassar, M.D., Ph.D. Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas. The researchers used data from a database called TriNetX, which contains information from about 127 million patients across 15 countries, mainly from the United States. They identified 638,501...

"We find that there is a peptide hormone in the gut called GLP1 that increases the secretion of insulin only when the blood glucose is high. This effectively eliminates the risk of hypoglycemic shock. Another advantage is that GLP1 administration has been found to stimulate weight-loss. The hormone offers the promise of revolutionising the treatment of Type II diabetes and reduce obesity," he said.