
Scientist behind Ozempic says drug can make life ‘so miserably boring’
One of the scientists whose work pioneered the development of medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy has revealed why life may become “so miserably boring” after two years of using the drug. Ozempic is an FDA-approved medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. It works by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which regulates blood sugar levels and slows down the rate at which food leaves the stomach, often creating the feeling of fullness. These semaglutide injections – sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy – have soared in popularity as many people, including Hollywood celebrities, have used it for weight loss. What’s more, people have also found Ozempic has been effective in curing their addictive habits, like drinking, smoking, shopping, or nail biting. However, because of Ozempic’s increasing popularity, it has led to national shortages of the type 2 diabetes treatment – leaving those who actually need it without. In an interview with Wired, professor Jens Juul Holst – who received the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in 2021 for his work developing treatments based on the GLP-1 hormone – spoke about the effects of Ozempic, and why he believes many people will stop taking the medication after just a few years. “What happens is that you lose your appetite and also the pleasure of eating, and so I think there’s a price to be paid when you do that,” Holst told Wired. “If you like food, then that pleasure is gone. The craving for food for some people is taken away when they take GLP-1 drugs.” He continued: “That may eventually be a problem, that once you’ve been on this for a year or two, life is so miserably boring that you can’t stand it any longer and you have to go back to your old life.” Holst added that medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have been on the market since 2005, though studies show that these people don’t stay on them for very long. “It’s just like every other drug, they don’t stay on it for many reasons,” he explained. “One of the reasons, as I said, is that once you have tried it and you realise you’ve lost interest in food, then that may be enough.” “We don’t know why people stop taking these drugs, but we know for a fact that they do stop. They do that all over the world.” A 2020 study found that 70 per cent of people who took GLP-1 drugs for type 2 diabetes stopped taking them within two years. However, this could pose a problem for many patients taking semaglutide injections. Research has found that people who stopped taking Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss experienced weight rebound. A trial published in April 2022 saw participants gain back two thirds of the weight they had lost after 68 weeks of taking semaglutide. As for celebrities who use the once-weekly injection for weight loss, despite not having diabetes or clinical obesity, Hans instead called attention to the “many terrible problems” that those with diabetes have struggled with by not having drugs like Ozempic readily available. “Have you ever visited a diabetes hospital? It’s really deplorable,” he said. “People come in with amputated limbs and compromised cognitive functions and heart problems or they can barely move – they’re miserable and depressed. It’s really serious. There is so much you can improve with a drug that is not only a weight-loss drug but is also an anti-diabetic.” Amidst the popularity of semaglutide injections, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings for consumers not to use off-brand versions of Ozempic or Wegovy, because they may not include the same GLP-1 hormone used in approved medications. Earlier this month, agency officials reported problems with patients using compounded versions of semaglutide – which combines traditional semaglutide with other ingredients. These drugs are not FDA-approved, and the agency does not verify the safety or effectiveness of compounded drugs. Consumers should only use drugs containing semaglutide with a prescription from a licensed health care provider and obtained from a state-licensed pharmacy or other facilities registered with the FDA, the agency said. Read More What is ‘Ozempic face’? Doctors warn about facial ageing side effect of diabetes medications How does Wegovy work? The ‘game changing’ weight loss drug beloved by Hollywood FDA warns against using off-brand versions of Ozempic, Wegovy for weight loss Pregnant Stassi Schroeder admits she wants to ‘try’ Ozempic after giving birth Doctors warn about ‘Ozempic face’ side effect of medications Amy Schumer says she stopped taking Ozempic because of side-effects
2023-06-16 23:52

Climate activists dump charcoal in Rome's Trevi Fountain
Climate change activists turned the blue water of the Trevi Fountain in central Rome black with diluted charcoal on Sunday.
2023-05-22 17:26

OpenAI expands ChatGPT 'custom instructions' to free users
OpenAI's custom instructions feature that rolled out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers in July, is now
2023-08-11 18:47

Max Verstappen dominates Belgian Grand Prix to protect mammoth Formula One lead
Max Verstappen’s invincible streak continued at the Belgian Grand Prix with another crushing win. The double world champion started sixth but took the lead at Spa Francorchamps on lap 17 of 44 before taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds clear of his forlorn Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez. Verstappen’s triumph was his eighth in a row – one shy of Sebastian Vettel’s record – and 10th from the 12 rounds so far. He leads Perez by a mammoth 125 points in the standings – the equivalent of five victories – heading into Formula One’s summer break. Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc took the final spot on the podium with Lewis Hamilton, who denied Verstappen a bonus point by setting the fastest lap, fourth. Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of George Russell with Lando Norris seventh. Verstappen qualified fastest on Friday evening but was demoted five places following a gearbox change. The Dutch driver was up from sixth to fourth at the end of the first lap while Perez blasted past Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead. Oscar Piastri finished runner-up in Saturday’s 11-lap sprint race, but the Australian rookie’s Grand Prix lasted less than a lap after he collided with Carlos Sainz at the opening corner. Sainz turned into Piastri at La Source leaving the McLaren man with race-ending damage. Back up front and Verstappen was on the move. On lap six he breezed past Hamilton at 210mph along the Kemmel Straight. Three laps later, Leclerc became his next victim, after he outbraked the Monegasque man with a fine move around the outside of Les Combes. Perez was now three seconds up the road. In came Perez for new rubber on lap 12 but Verstappen wanted Red Bull to double-stack in order not to lose any time to his team-mate on fresher tyres. “So don’t forget Max, use your head please,” said Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. “Are we both doing it or what?” replied Verstappen. “You just follow my instruction,” came Lambiase’s response. “No, I want to know both cars do it,” Verstappen fired back. “Max, please follow my instruction and trust it, thank you,” said Lambiase. The following lap, Verstappen stopped for tyres and it only took a couple of laps before he was crawling all over the back of Perez’s Red Bull machine. Verstappen tracked Perez through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section before applying DRS and roaring round the outside of his team-mate along the Kemmel Straight on lap 17. By the end of the lap, he had already pulled out a 1.6 sec gap over his team-mate. Verstappen was then on the radio, reporting rain, and the Dutchman endured a hairy moment through Eau Rouge as the back end of his Red Bull machine stepped out on him at 180mph. “F***, I nearly lost it,” said the championship leader amid the light drizzle. Lambiase was then back on the radio asking if Verstappen could make his tyres last with more rain due to arrive. “I can’t see the weather radar,” came Verstappen’s spiky response. On lap 29, Perez now trailing Verstappen by nine seconds, stopped for a second time with Verstappen following in on the same lap but it was not long before Lambiase was back on the radio lambasting his driver. “You used a lot of the tyre on the out lap Max,” he said. “I am not sure if that was sensible.” Verstappen responded by banging in the fastest lap of the race. Such is Verstappen’s stranglehold of Formula One, he was back on the radio joking if he should stop for a third time. “Should we push on and do another stop?” he said. “A little bit of pit-stop training?” “Not this time,” replied Lambiase, having previously calling on his driver “to use your head a bit more.” But Verstappen showed no sign of slowing down, delivering Red Bull’s 22nd win from the last 23 races and retaining the team’s unbeaten streak this season. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen beats Oscar Piastri to sprint race pole in Belgium How Max Verstappen and record-breaking Red Bull compare to Formula One greats I held my breath – Lewis Hamilton enjoys ‘extraordinary’ run to pole in Budapest
2023-07-30 23:20

Best vacuum deals ahead of Amazon Prime Day 2023: Robot, cordless, hybrid, and more
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2023-06-21 23:49

Are MrBeast burgers inedible? Here's why YouTuber is suing his ghost kitchen partner
Fans of the popular YouTube personality have shared reviews, calling the food 'revolting' and 'likely the worst burger they have ever had'
2023-08-01 18:56

Australia tells dating apps to improve safety standards to protect users from sexual violence
Australia’s government is telling the online dating industry to improve safety standards or be forced to make changes through legislation
2023-09-19 10:57

The moment Lando Norris came of age in British Grand Prix – and it wasn’t his super start
At the beginning of the season, a mere 10 races ago, Lando Norris endured an opener of excruciating torment in Bahrain. With his stricken McLaren impacted by a “pneumatic pressure leak”, the Brit valiantly took the chequered flag in dead last after pitting an astonishing six times throughout the race. It was, simply, a shambles. But that now seems nothing but a distant memory, four months on in the safe haven of the British Isles. Most observers did not raise an eyebrow when McLaren announced a number of upgrades to their car ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix last week. It is the phase of the season where every team is changing parts in search of that extra tenth or two of speed. Usually, by way of natural progression, the improvement is gradual. Yet out of an abyss of doom to start 2023, the papaya have come storming back into contention. The signs were there in Austria when Norris qualified third on the grid. Race-pace on that occasion last week was his downfall. But this time, what a sparkling Silverstone weekend it proved to be for Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri. One-lap pace on a Saturday? Tick. Backed up by enhanced speed on Sunday? Another tick. If it wasn’t for a mid-race safety car, it would have been a first double podium since Monza two years ago for McLaren, with Piastri unfortunate to not grasp his first top-three in F1 after finishing fourth. But it was Norris who was the star of the show at Silverstone. On paper the slowest out of the British triumvirate, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sporting the might of Mercedes, cautious optimism was the talk of the day heading into the British Grand Prix. Saturday was a statement. Norris had top-tier pace throughout all three qualifying sessions and for a moment, it seemed he’d grabbed pole position before Max Verstappen, inevitably, snatched it from him. Still, a front-row start. And inspired by a record 160,000-strong crowd on Sunday, Norris reacted quicker at lights out, storming down the inside past the previously irrepressible Red Bull. Such was McLaren’s raw speed to start, Piastri also almost steered his way past Verstappen. But a McLaren was out in front: Lando Norris was leading the British Grand Prix. Yet there were still 52 full laps to complete. And while Norris could do nothing to defend against the might of the Red Bull DRS on lap five, the pace of the MCL60 – so named to celebrate 60 years since the team was founded by Bruce McLaren – remained impressive. Both Norris and Piastri, in scenes unfathomable a month ago, were keeping Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin behind them with ease. But the mid-race safety car changed the complexion behind Verstappen. Hamilton benefited, leapfrogging Piastri, and was on quicker soft tyres compared to Norris’ hard compound. Right on the heels of his former team. But right then, lap 39, was the coming-of-age moment. Under pressure down the Wellington Straight, Norris positioned his car exquisitely on the inside of the racing line, with Hamilton surging around the outside. He remained inches in front around Brooklands and stayed cool down at Copse Corner, scene of that infamous Hamilton-Verstappen crash two years ago. A lap later, the same scenario presented the same result. Hamilton noted afterwards that the McLaren was like a “rocketship” in high-speed corners. This time at Copse, Norris was on the outside but stayed firm on the throttle, whizzing around in front and remaining ahead of the Mercedes. Hamilton never got so close again. A much-deserved and highly-impressive second place for Norris; his joint best-result in Formula 1. And although a first win for the 23-year-old remains elusive for now, McLaren’s pace – while particularly suited to this track, in juxtaposition to the next race in Hungary – was striking. Those positive steps, so long nothing but cliches rattled out in the media, have finally been taken by Zak Brown and his team at Woking. That top tier of four teams in F1 in 2023, with Aston Martin’s arrival at the start of the season, has briskly become five. Read More Max Verstappen storms to British Grand Prix victory with two Brits on the podium Toto Wolff admits Mercedes will soon have ‘no choice’ but to switch focus to next year ‘I laugh at the bad comments’: Lando Norris on dealing with online abuse and a ‘tough’ year on-track
2023-07-10 16:16

Why did Ryan Gosling lose his cool over Eva Mendes? 'Barbie' star flaunts 'E' alphabet pendant at movie's LA premiere
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Tyla, the singer behind the 'Water' dance, shows you how to do the viral TikTok trend
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Artificial reefs could offer a new climate solution
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2023-10-31 18:22

Addison Rae: 5 unknown facts about TikTok star you should know
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