{"id":132256,"date":"2024-10-25T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=132256"},"modified":"2024-10-25T17:56:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T21:56:07","slug":"economist-leader-its-not-just-obesity-drugs-like-ozempic-will-change-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=132256","title":{"rendered":"(Economist Leader) It\u2019s not just obesity. Drugs like Ozempic will change the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The action is now moving beyond America. With over two-fifths of the world overweight or obese, demand for glp<\/small>-1 drugs is voracious. Pharma companies are racing to make them work as pills, which would be cheaper to produce than jabs, and to reduce their side-effects. Generic versions for older GLP<\/small>-1 agonists are entering the market<\/a>. Semaglutide is to come off patent in Brazil, China and India in 2026; eight such drugs are in the works in China. That is just as well. As incomes in the developing world have risen and life has become more sedentary, people\u2019s waistlines are catching up with those in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curbing obesity would be consequential. Yet glp<\/small>-1 drugs promise to do much more. Overweight patients on semaglutide have been found to suffer fewer heart attacks and strokes; the benefits, astonishingly, seem to be largely independent of how much weight is lost. Tirzepatide improves sleep apnoea. Trials show that glp<\/small>-1 agonists reduce chronic kidney disease in diabetics; and there are signs they may lessen brain shrinkage and cognitive decline in Alzheimer\u2019s. Studies of health records suggest that they may help with addictions, too; people already on glp<\/small>-1 drugs in America were less likely to overdose on opioids or abuse cannabis or alcohol. Researchers are even talking, in hushed tones, of their anti-ageing effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can one class of drug do so much? As our briefing<\/a> explains this week, not only do the drugs act in the gut, but they also bind to receptors all over the body and in the brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

I\u2019ve been saying this for quite some time: GLP-1 agonists are miracle \u201ceverything drugs\u201d! it\u2019s likely there\u2019ll be more of these types of drugs soon

\u201cIt\u2019s not just obesity. Drugs like Ozempic will change the world
As they become cheaper, they promise to improve billions of lives\u201d pic.twitter.com\/61tc17dKRE<\/a><\/p>— Derya Unutmaz, MD (@DeryaTR_) October 24, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>