Cutting-edge weight-loss drugs like Ozempic/Wegovy can cut alcohol intake dramatically in a short amount of time, a new study says. People taking semaglutide or liraglutide reduced their alcohol consumption by two-thirds within four months, according to results recently published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. These glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, decreases appetite and slows digestion of food. GLP-1 drugs achieve some of these effects by directly affecting the brain’s cravings for food, and that might also extend to cravings for alcohol, said senior researcher Dr. Carel le Roux, chair of experimental pathology at University College Dublin in Ireland. “Thus, patients report the effects are ‘effortless’,” allowing them to cut drinking with little conscious effort, Le Roux said in a news release. Drinking accounts for nearly 5% of deaths worldwide, researchers noted. Treatments for problem drinking can be very successful in the short-term but about 70% of patients relapse within a year. Early animal studies have indicated that GLP-1 drugs can help cut alcohol cravings, but studies involving humans are only starting to emerge, researchers said. For this study, researchers tracked the health of 262 people who were clinically overweight or obese and being treated for excess weight at a Dublin clinic. All the patients had been prescribed either semaglutide or liraglutide for…  read on >  read on >

Children and young adults formerly covered by Medicaid are losing access to medications needed to control conditions like depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy, a new study says. Young people need to take these meds regularly to get the best results, as interruptions can cause flare-ups of their chronic health problems, researchers said. Interruptions in these meds are occurring more often in states that have experienced the biggest drops in Medicaid enrollment during the “unwinding” process that started after the end of the COVID pandemic, researchers reported recently in the journal Pediatrics. The unwinding brought an end to Medicaid eligibility rules put in place during the pandemic. For example, children and teens who use asthma inhalers were more likely to decrease use of their meds if they lived in a state with the largest drops in Medicaid enrollment, results show. “Our findings suggest that the rapid disenrollment of young people from Medicaid during the unwinding process resulted in the disruption of chronic disease therapy,” lead researcher Dr. Kao-Ping Chua, a pediatrician and health care researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School and School of Public Health, said in a news release. “As policymakers debate whether to enact drastic cuts to Medicaid funding, they should consider the possibility that doing so could similarly disrupt chronic disease therapy for children and young adults, placing them at…  read on >  read on >

Children and young adults formerly covered by Medicaid are losing access to medications needed to control conditions like depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy, a new study says. Young people need to take these meds regularly to get the best results, as interruptions can cause flare-ups of their chronic health problems, researchers said. Interruptions in these meds are occurring more often in states that have experienced the biggest drops in Medicaid enrollment during the “unwinding” process that started after the end of the COVID pandemic, researchers reported recently in the journal Pediatrics. The unwinding brought an end to Medicaid eligibility rules put in place during the pandemic. For example, children and teens who use asthma inhalers were more likely to decrease use of their meds if they lived in a state with the largest drops in Medicaid enrollment, results show. “Our findings suggest that the rapid disenrollment of young people from Medicaid during the unwinding process resulted in the disruption of chronic disease therapy,” lead researcher Dr. Kao-Ping Chua, a pediatrician and health care researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School and School of Public Health, said in a news release. “As policymakers debate whether to enact drastic cuts to Medicaid funding, they should consider the possibility that doing so could similarly disrupt chronic disease therapy for children and young adults, placing them at…  read on >  read on >

Childhood obesity nearly triples a person’s risk for experiencing discrimination or stigma based on their weight, a new study says. Severe obesity before age 18 increased a person’s odds of experiencing weight stigma by 2.8 times, researchers reported recently in the International Journal of Obesity. Weight stigma is marked by negative or discriminatory actions related to a person’s body weight or size, researchers said in background notes. “Experienced weight stigma is definitely not about hurt feelings,” said senior researcher Dr. Jaime Almandoz, an associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “It’s a real public health issue that impacts mental health, physical health and access to care,” Almandoz said in a news release. “Recognizing and addressing weight stigma needs to be part of routine obesity care.” About 42% of U.S. adults 20 and older are obese, and more than 40% adults report experiencing weight stigma at some point in their lives, researchers said in background notes. Further, the number of children with obesity in the U.S. continues to rise, with about 1 in 5 teens currently living with the condition, researchers said. To see whether age influences their risk of weight stigma, researchers surveyed 686 adults receiving care at UT Southwestern’s Weight Wellness Program between 2021 and 2023.  Participants had an average age of 56, and about 62% had severe obesity…  read on >  read on >

Childhood obesity nearly triples a person’s risk for experiencing discrimination or stigma based on their weight, a new study says. Severe obesity before age 18 increased a person’s odds of experiencing weight stigma by 2.8 times, researchers reported recently in the International Journal of Obesity. Weight stigma is marked by negative or discriminatory actions related to a person’s body weight or size, researchers said in background notes. “Experienced weight stigma is definitely not about hurt feelings,” said senior researcher Dr. Jaime Almandoz, an associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “It’s a real public health issue that impacts mental health, physical health and access to care,” Almandoz said in a news release. “Recognizing and addressing weight stigma needs to be part of routine obesity care.” About 42% of U.S. adults 20 and older are obese, and more than 40% adults report experiencing weight stigma at some point in their lives, researchers said in background notes. Further, the number of children with obesity in the U.S. continues to rise, with about 1 in 5 teens currently living with the condition, researchers said. To see whether age influences their risk of weight stigma, researchers surveyed 686 adults receiving care at UT Southwestern’s Weight Wellness Program between 2021 and 2023.  Participants had an average age of 56, and about 62% had severe obesity…  read on >  read on >