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Kathy Schwartz was 10 years free from alcohol, cigarettes and opiates however each day it was painful to regulate her cravings. “They were always in the background,” she says. In June final yr, nonetheless, this noise fell silent.
Prescribed the weight-loss drug semaglutide, she not solely misplaced practically 30 kilograms over 10 months, but additionally her need to achieve for a drink or take some capsules. “I do not crave, which I didn’t think would be a side effect,” says Schwartz. Remarkably, the melancholy and anxiousness that will beforehand come over her in waves additionally calmed down.
Schwartz isn’t alone on this expertise. New analysis is revealing the stunning mind and psychological well being advantages of semaglutide medication reminiscent of 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 melancholy, anxiousness, habit and even sure consuming issues – in addition to neurological situations reminiscent of Parkinson’s illness and Alzheimer’s. What’s extra, plainly these results aren’t simply mediated through weight reduction, however by way of direct motion on the mind.
The story of medication 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 losing a few pounds. We now know that the hormone results in an elevated feeling of fullness.
Semaglutide and extra
At present, medication that mimic…
