JustCare

Tag: Addiction

  • Are weight-loss drugs a modern-day miracle?

    Are weight-loss drugs a modern-day miracle?

    Pretty much everywhere I turn, there’s a new story about the benefits of weight-loss drugs beyond helping people lose weight. It’s still early days, and many weight-loss drugs are extremely expensive. But, if you believe the stories, weight-loss drugs can treat heart conditions, can reduce overall health care spending and, can even treat depression and dementia, reports Simar Bajaj for the New Scientist.

    For now, Medicare covers weight-loss drugs mainly for people with diabetes. They are super expensive, driving up insurance premiums considerably, and there’s a lot we still don’t know about them. Still, what’s coming out about their benefits seems nothing short of a miracle.

    Some former alcoholics and drug addicts appear to lose their desire for alcohol and drugs when they take a semaglutide, a weight-loss drug, such as Wegovy and Ozempic. Their depression and anxiety fade away. So, can their addiction.

    Today about six million Americans take a weight-loss drug or GLP-1 medicine. Before long, it is projected that five times that number–30 million–Americans will be on a semaglutide. These drugs enable people to drop between 15 to 20 percent of their body weight.

    Back in February, Epic, which keeps Americans’ medical records, determined that people who took a GLP-1 were considerably less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than others.  An earlier study arrived at similar findings. 

    Time will tell before we know for sure whether weight-loss drugs deliver all these findings. For now, it seems that the findings make sense. People who are overweight are more prone to depression. If they lose weight after taking a GLP-1, it’s more than likely that it will benefit them mentally as well as physically. For most of us, it feels good to lose weight.

    Some scientists believe there’s more to the story. GLP-1s are produced in the brain as well as the gut. So when you take a GLP-1 drug, you could be benefiting your brain directly, improving cognitive functions and emotional control. Indeed, in a small study of people who did not lose weight from a GLP-1, the researchers still saw improvements to their moods, and they experienced fewer depressive symptoms.

    GLP-1s have been found to increase blood flow in the brain as well as to keep nerve cells from dying as quickly as they otherwise do. They bring more glucose to the brain. As a result, the brain can function better. For these reasons, in small studies, GLP-1s have also been found to be responsible for less brain shrinkage in people with Alzheimer’s and to slow the progression of the disease.

    Again, these are early days. The good news is that these weight-loss drugs seem to have myriad benefits. And, for now, they also appear to come with few risks. But, if we know anything, it’s that what’s good for your health today might be found to come with serious side effects tomorrow.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Health insurers in Germany help prevent opioid crisis

    Health insurers in Germany help prevent opioid crisis

    Shefali Luthra reports for Kaiser Health News on how health insurers in Germany have helped prevent an opioid crisis there. How? They require doctors to prescribe alternate treatments before prescribing opioids. Not surprisingly, Germans are far less likely to die from opioid overdoses as Americans. In 2016, ten times as many Americans died of opioid overdoses as Germans.

    The US, unlike most European countries, leaves it to local actors to decide whether and how to implement prescription drug protocols. In Europe, generally, national protocols are implemented throughout the country. These protocols tend to be developed by independent experts, scientists and patients.

    In Germany, opioid protocols were developed with input from many scientific societies and patient groups. In addition to the protocols, Germany and other countries rely on patient education campaigns.

    In the US, every state except Missouri has a prescription drug monitoring program, electronic databases that require reporting on and tracking of opioids and other controlled substances, such as benzodiazepines and amphetamines. But, some states have far more lenient reporting requirements than others. Those states that do not have reporting mandates show no sign of reducing opioid use.

    States with comprehensive mandates requiring every provider to register and use these programs have lower rates of use of these drugs. One recent study reported in Health Affairs found a nearly 9 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions, as well as 4.27 percent fewer hospital stays and 17.75 percent fewer opioid-related emergency department visits in states with comprehensive mandates.

    Still, unlike in Germany, addiction rates are rising in the US, even in states with comprehensive mandates. Experts suggest that the reason is that Germany has a different approach to health care and treatment for substance abuse. The primary distinction it appears is that health insurers in Germany, unlike the US, do not support opioid prescriptions in many instances unless other forms of treatment do not work. And, doctors in Germany must get special permission to prescribe opioids.

    Here’s more from Just Care: