Free Republic

The medication semaglutide, which is currently used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, might also be an effective medication for alcohol dependence. In a study, the drug reduced alcohol relapse drinking and alcohol intake in rats by more than half. Semaglutide is sold under brand names such as Ozempic. There is anecdotal evidence of patients with obesity or diabetes saying that their craving for alcohol has lessened since they started taking the drug. Today, individuals with alcohol dependence are treated with a combination of various psychosocial methods and medications. Four approved medications are available. Semaglutide is a...

The round mound of rebound is less rotund. On an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week, Charles Barkley revealed that he is down over 60 pounds since he started taking the weight-loss drug Mounjaro. “I started taking this drug called Mounjaro about six months ago,” Barkley said. “It’s been amazing. My doctor, she is amazing. I know a lot of people take Ozempic, but my doctor prefers Mounjaro. I started at 352, and I’m down to 290. “It’s been great, I’ve been starting to feel like a human being — not a fat-ass anymore. I want to lose...

People taking Ozempic for weight loss say they have also stopped drinking, smoking, shopping, and even nail biting. All her life, Victoria Rutledge thought of herself as someone with an addictive personality. Her first addiction was alcohol. After she got sober in her early 30s, she replaced drinking with food and shopping, which she thought about constantly. She would spend $500 on organic groceries, only to have them go bad in her fridge. “I couldn’t stop from going to that extreme,” she told me. When she ran errands at Target, she would impulsively throw extra things—candles, makeup, skin-care products—into her...

Plans to launch a “game-changing” weight loss jab in the UK have been delayed amid concern supplies could not keep up with demand from obese Britons. Weight loss services and pharmacists were expecting Wegovy to become available this week but have now been warned of an indefinite delay making the product available. The weekly injections had already been backed by the NHS, with the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recently recommending the drug for tens of thousands of people, and millions more expected to seek it privately. Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer, said it was working to make...

Patients using the blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy say their hair has started to fall out in clumps. An American TikToker who lost 60lbs while on Ozempic claims her hairline has receded so much she now has to cover it with makeup. Another patient was so horrified after suffering hair loss she said that she would rather be 'fat and able to hide behind my hair than skinny with bald spots'. Hair loss is not listed as a side effect of semaglutide, the active drug in both products, but the side effect showed up in clinical trials of Wegovy....

Popular celebrity weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic could have serious side effects, according to researchers in China. In a study set to appear in the monthly journal Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, researchers believe that there is an “increased risk” of intestinal obstruction when taking those medications. The drugs are made up of the peptide semaglutide, a derivative of GLP-1, a hormone derived from the small intestine.

This article was featured in One Great Story, New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. Allison is an actress. When we meet up for coffee — she has an almond-milk cortado — in midtown, something’s different about her, but I’m not sure what. She looks like an Instagram version of herself but in real life. It turns out she’s down about ten pounds and happy about it. “Somebody once told me I had a size-zero personality, and they assumed that I was thinner than I was,” she tells me. “We don’t talk about it, but...

Tammie Rachell Largent-Phillips, 52, has Type 2 diabetes. For the past two years, she's managed the condition using a drug called Ozempic, which helps people with diabetes keep blood sugar levels in check. But in November, she was forced to switch to another medication, insulin. The Ozempic she needed was no longer available at her pharmacy. In recent months, demand for the drug has soared, colliding with global supply issues. Together, it's led to a shortage of Ozempic. But the popularity of Ozempic, or semaglutide, isn't because of rising rates of diabetes. Instead, it's because of its weight loss benefits,...

The popular weight loss drug Wegovy is now available to children as young as 12. Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk announced that the Food and Drug Administration had extended the drug's approval to include children. It had previously received regulatory approval for use in adults last year. In clinical trials, teens aged 12 to 17 who took the weekly injection lost 14 percent of their body weight over 64 weeks. This nearly matches the trials for adults, where recipients lost 15 percent of their weight after 68 weeks. Wegovy, and its sister drug Ozempic, have rocketed to popularity in 2022 because...