NEW ORLEANS — For a few years, we've been covering the weight-loss success local people have been having with those injections that curb your appetite.
Now there are new findings on those medications.
A new study suggests there is a positive benefit when it comes to having thoughts of suicide.
As more and more people use those injections of semaglutide and tirzepatide for weight loss, and diabetes blood sugar management, doctors are finding obesity is just the beginning of what they treat.
Some may remember a finding of 20 percent fewer heart events in people at risk for cardiac disease.
And because they work on reward receptors in the brain, people report improvements in behaviors like decreases in shopping, nail-biting and gambling, and people reported less interest in drinking alcohol.
And they decrease the chronic inflammation throughout the body.
“Of course, they improve insulin sensitivity, and now we know they are related to hunger, not just hunger, but fullness, and how quickly our stomach empties, and now inflammation, and probably more we'll find out in the future,” explained Dr. Shauna Levy, a bariatric surgeon and Medical Director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center. She is also a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
So, WWL Louisiana asked Dr. Levy to explain the latest finding by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, that these injections are associated with a 49 percent to 73 percent lower risk of first-time or recurring suicidal thoughts compared to other medications for controlling obesity and type 2 diabetes.
“I will say that these results are more consistent with what we've seen in our patients. People feel happier,” she said.
Dr. Levy says something major she sees in patients, is a quieting of the food noise, those intrusive thoughts in your brain about eating food. She says some patients even report a mood change, experiencing more euphoria when using semaglutide.
Dr. Levy cautions that this latest study was not long-term, and one that observed patients, rather than used control groups. So, more studies are needed for complete answers to the hows and whys when it comes to suicidal thoughts, but the science is more clear when it comes causes of obesity.
“I think we're better understanding that this is a hormonally driven disease. GLP-1 levels are generally low in people with the disease of obesity. So, if we can raise those levels, we can start treating this disease.”
Dr. Levy says because we are still learning so much about these injections, that you should always be monitored by a doctor when you are using them.
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