drugs

We believed that GLP-1 drugs were only going to change obesity. They just turned upside down how we treat addictions

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The famous GLP-1 receptor agonistsamong which some protagonists such as Ozempic stand out, have revolutionized the treatment of type 2 diabetes and of obesity. However, for some time patients and doctors had been reporting a “side effect” that was as surprising as it was hopeful, since it was seen that this treatment made people not feel like drinking alcohol or smoking. New routes. What began as a trickle of anecdotes in doctors’ offices has ended up being the target of study by different research teams who have seen here a new way of understanding the mechanism of addictions in humans. Now, a recent study published in B.M.J. backed by new clinical trialssuggests that these medications could be the key to treating addictive substance use disorders. How it looked. The heavyweight of this new research is a gigantic cohort study published in 2026, where the data of 606,434 United States veterans with type 2 diabetes. Here it was divided into two groups: those who started treatment with GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and those who took SGLT2 inhibitorswhich is one of the accepted treatments for advanced type 2 diabetes. The results. But the most shocking data came when analyzing patients who already had a previous history of addictions. In this group, the use of Ozempic resulted in a dramatic decrease in addiction problems requiring urgent treatment, but also saw a lower rate of hospital admissions, lower drug-related mortality, a drop in overdoses, and even a significant reduction in suicidal ideation and attempts. The essays. Although observational studies are very valuable, they also you have to go to the laboratory to see what is happening. Here, a 2025 randomized trial demonstrated that taking Ozempic dramatically reduced alcohol self-administration in a laboratory setting. Here patients reported less anxiety about having to have a drink or a cigarette, fewer days of heavy consumption, and incidentally, a decrease in the number of cigarettes they smoked per day. In the past, a study published in 2022 showed that using exenatide it was not possible to generally reduce the days of consumption of these drugs, but it was possible to see how the drug had a direct effect on some specific parts of the brain that are related to the reward centers. Because? That a drug designed for the pancreas affects our relationship with alcohol and tobacco, the truth is that it can raise many questions. The answer lies in the brain, since some reviews suggest that GLP-1 receptors not only regulate blood sugar or slow down gastric emptying. These receptors are also found in key brain areas that control the dopamine pathway, which is why, by activating them, drugs such as emaglutide or liraglutide attenuate the sensation of reward. In rodents, for example, they block the reinforcement produced by substances such as cocaine, opioids or nicotine and, basically, the drug stops “feeling good.” A paradigm shift. As can be seen every day, constant drug use over time can have devastating consequences for the lives of people and those around them. The problem is that right now there are few approved pharmacological therapies to support these addicts, and this makes any clue to have a new therapeutic door welcome. Although more research and large-scale Phase III trials are needed for regulatory agencies to officially approve their psychiatric use, GLP-1 drugs appear to be doing something that medicine has been seeking for decades: “satiating” not only physical hunger, but also the brain’s chemical hunger. Images | lilartsy In Xataka | Ozempic not only eliminates hunger, it is rewriting the supermarket ticket: goodbye to ultra-processed foods and spending on snacks

WHO wants to improve access to drugs such as Ozempic. Now they are on their list of essential medicines

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Ozempicthe treatment against diabetes that reached the fame converted into medication for weight loss has lived for a convulsive years that could have resulted in a “death for success.” The popularity of the drug created a severe supply problem. Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a new step to improve access to the drug, especially in less favored countries. Updating the list. The (WHO) has up to date its model list of essential medicines (EML). The new list Includes GLP-1 drugswhich emulate the peptide that gives its name to the group, the family of treatments flagging by Ozempic. According to the international organism, this inclusion aims to improve access to the popular drug, especially in countries with less income. The extension covers other drugs, such as treatments against various types of cancer, against cystic fibrosis, psoriasis, hemophilia and other blood -related disorders. In total, the new list now incorporates 523 essential medicines. The extension It also affects the WHO model list of essential pediatric medicines (EMLC), which now has 374 treatments. The “GLP-1 family”. The incorporation of the GLP-1 drugs includes compounds such as semaglutida (the Ozempic base and Wegovy), the dorara and the liraglutid Zepbound and Mounjaro). These types of compounds act as agonists of the hormone receptors that we know as LPG-1, or Peptide similar to type-1 glucagon (although some also work as agonists of other hormones). This hormone is produced and segregated by our body after meals and meets Two key functions. On the one hand, it informs the pancreas of the intake to reinforce insulin production, hence these compounds help people with diabetes. The second function of this peptide is the one that makes these useful drugs to lose weight. The LPG-1 also transmits information to our brain, information that it interprets as the feeling of satiety. Improve access. According to WHO explains in a press releasethese drugs can help people with type 2 diabetes improve their glycemic control, but they are also able to “reduce the risk of cardiovascular and renal complications, favor weight loss and even reduce the risk of premature death, especially if they have renal or cardiac failure ”, a fact that would be based, at least in part, the decision. As details in the international organism, the price of these drugs implies significant access to them. Its inclusion in the list aims to expand this access, prioritizing patients who can benefit the most while fostering competition through genericians capable of bringing these medications to primary care, “especially in unattended areas.” “A large part of the direct spending of families in noncommunicable diseases is destined for medicines (…). To offer equitable access to essential medicines, an equal response of health systems, a strong political will, multisectoral cooperation and programs focused on people who allow everyone,” detailed in the press release Deusdedit Mumbangizi, Director of Policies and Standards for Medicines and Health Products of the WHO. Expanding in the fight against cancer. The expansion of WHO lists also include several cancer treatments, including several antineoplastic, drugs that seek to avoid the formation of growth that can become cancerous or neoplasms. Among these drugs are inhibitors of the immune control point PD-1/PD-L1, which help our immune system To recognize and attack with cancer cells. In Xataka | China is the great candy of pharmaceutical thinning. And there is a wild race for selling the new ozempic Image | Chemist4u / Yann Forget

When we start consuming drugs

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If we pulled the thread we can get an idea of to what extent our ancestors went to drug trancas. We knew, for example, that The barbarians They were so blind that we could explain much of the wars of antiquity. Even Two mummies They have told us to what extent the cocaine was established in past centuries. Now, some teeth aim to offer us the “beginning” of this historical consumption. The finding. A team of Thai researchers has managed to identify chemical remains of consumption from Betel In the dental plate of a woman between 25 and 35 years buried about 4,000 years ago In Nong Ratchawat, in the center of Thailand. The finding represents direct evidence oldest ever discovered of the use of Betel, a psychoactive practice that, despite being little known in the West, continues to be one of the most popular in the world, only surpassed by tobacco, coffee and alcohol. He studywhich was based on advanced liquid chromatography techniques coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS), analyzed 36 samples of mineralized dental plate of several burials of the bronze age, and three of them offered unequivocal positive results that coincide with the chemical profiles of the Betel prepared according to traditional methods. Make the impossible visible. The key to this advance does not reside solely in the identification of plant remains, but in the Applied Methodology. The positive sample contained traces of Arecaidine (from the Areca nut), Hydroxychavicol (from the betel leaf), and nicotine, probably due to the occasional use of tobacco as part of the mixture. For validate your resultsthe team led by Piyawit Moonkham replied experimental form The ancestral chewing process, using dry areca nut, betel leaves, pink lime paste, cortex of Senegalia Catechutobacco, and human saliva, with the aim of generating a precise reference with which to compare the ancient samples. Lost uses. This unusually detailed approach allowed detect molecules that do not leave visual trace and that would have been impossible to identify through traditional archaeological techniques. According to the co -author From the study, Shannon Tushingham, this strategy not only reveals lost uses of the past, but opens a new way to rebuild cultural practices through biomolecular waste, even when there is no visible indication of them. Archaeological Site in Nong Ratchawat where teeth samples originated A living tradition. He betelor more specifically the brunette of Betel, is the name that receives the preparation composed of the Areca walnut wrapped in the Betel leaf and usually accompanied by lime off. This combination releases Arecolinaan alkaloid substance that produces mild stimulating effects, as a feeling of alert, warmth and well -being. Despite its invisibility in the official drug history, Betel has a social and ceremonial role deeply rooted in many Asian and oceanic cultures. For millennia, it has been used in rituals Incidentally, festive events, and even as an element of community cohesion. The finding in Thailand demonstrates that this practice was already consolidated in Southeast Asia a thousand years before what was thought, challenging the linear narratives of cultural development and offering a new window to the intangible past. Legacy with consequences. The discovery is not exempt from Medical and Social Implications. Today, Betel is an extended habit in countries like Papua New Guinea, where 50% of the population chews regularly, and where the highest oral cancer rate on the planet has been documented. Chronic consumption has also been seenInculated to diseases Hepatic, metabolic syndrome, cirrhosis and renal damage. However, Betel too It has properties Antioxidants, antiparasitic, anti -inflammatory and antiseptic, which complicates its classification as a mere “harmful drug.” This ambivalence has fed its cultural permanence and has raised disparate responses in the different countries. Consume Betel. In Taiwanfor example, consumption has decreased significantly among young people URBANITAS Thanks to public health campaigns, but Betel is still linked to a very particular aesthetic: that of The bīnláng xīshī or “Bellezas del Betel”, young women dressed in provocative outfits that sell the product in road shop windows. This phenomenon, already in decline, has given way to a more conservative version, with major vendors in closed positions or night markets, but remains a living expression of cultural identity and historical memory. Knowledge in front of stigma. One of the axes of the study It consisted of stressing that practices such as Betel’s consumption They should not be reduced to the category of “drugs” under contemporary western standards. Far from that, they represent medical, spiritual and community knowledge transmitted for generations, often ignored by classical archeology. By identifying these chemical waste, the dental calculation analysis not only rewrites the history of the Betel, but also offers a framework to reassess many other psychoactive plants whose use has been invisible or repressed. As Moonkham statesUnderstanding the cultural context of the use of traditional plants is essential to recognize its true anthropological value and to generate a more nuanced dialogue around substance consumption. Fascinating, since the dental calculation has returned the image of an anonymous woman who, 4,000 years ago, shared with her community a practice that still survives. A silent evidence that human desire to alter awareness, share experiences and ritualize the body has roots as deep as History itself. Image | FFGGSS/Wikimedia Commons, Piyawit Moonkham In Xataka | The consumption of amphetamines in Spain is concentrated in an autonomous community. And we know it with a “single” trick In Xataka | The barbarians who assaulted Rome went to the eyebrows: drug use also explains the war in antiquity

Losing weight without losing muscle is the great challenge of drugs such as Ozempic. A protein keeps the key to face it

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It is usual for us to often get news about hopeful scientific advances made in mice. These experiments always leave a question in the air, if the discovery can be applicable to humans. This does not always happen, but sometimes MITCH Silence the expression of a simple protein in our muscles can lead to weight loss and, more, more, It can allow us to lose weight Without putting our muscle mass at risk. The protein in question is called Mtch2 (Mithochondrial Carrier Homolog 2), but has been nicknamed “Mitch” by those who study the compound and its effects. The last analysis of this protein and its associated gene has observed that its “erased” in human cells causes in these lower efficiency Energy What is perhaps more important, this silenced causes cells to stop using carbohydrates as a priority energy source and in place they preferably use body fat. Different fuels. The cells of our body need energy and billions of years of evolution have given rise to a series of biological mechanisms that allow us to maintain a calorie reserve that allow us to feed these cells in times of greater shortage. These mechanisms imply that our cells can resort to different fuels according to the situation. While the carbohydrates we consume and the fats that we use as a reserve are the main fuel Ozempic. From mitones to mitochondria. According to Explain the responsible teamthe new study has its bases in a previous experiment conducted with mice that observed in the rodents an “improvement” in their body composition in the form of “protection” against obesity and the development of more muscle fibers. This accompanied by greater consumption of greater oxygen consumption and an increase in resistance. The results were promising but left the team with a doubt, if it would be possible to “inoculate” the body against obesity by silencing the expression of a protein without this negatively affecting muscle mass. To look for an answer, the team went on to focus on the role of the mitochondría, the organelle in charge of providing energy to the cell. The key is in the fact that the “mitch” protein plays an important role in the merger of the mitochondria, a fusion capable of increasing the efficiency of these organelles. By silencing protein, organelles would lose the ability to resort to this fusion which also implies less efficiency and thereby a greater need to consume energy resources of our body. It only remained to prove if this was also true in human cells. Less efficiency, more consumption. They thus verified that by silencing the protein in human cells, the “mitochondrial network” was undone and, as expected, energy efficiency fell. This left the cell in a “permanent state of energy deprivation.” And what is more, the team also found that this led to the cells to prioritize the use of fats as a primary energy source, instead of other possible sources such as carbohydrates. “After erasing Mitch, we examined, every few hours, the effect that it had in more than 100 substances that take part in the metabolism of human cells,” pointed in a press release Sabita Chourasia, co -author of the study. “We saw an increase in breathing, the process in which the cell produces energy from nutrients, such as carbohydrates and fats. This explains the increase in muscle resistance of previous experiments in mice.” The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Journal embo. An intermediate step. The study takes an important step in the long process between the first results in animal models and the design of a treatment for weight loss based on what was learned. In following studies, the team intends to elucidate new aspects about Mitch’s role in the accumulation of fat in the body. The fact that women usually have higher levels of this protein can help researchers discover if Mitch is also responsible for the differentiation of fatty cells. In Xataka | We are increasingly clear that our microbiome is key to our health. Our protein sources can also alter it Image | Weizmann Institute of Science

This is what we know about the new generation of drugs for weight loss

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Many pharmaceuticals and laboratories have spent months to work seeking to replicate the success of drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound. Based on compounds originally devised as diabetes treatments (semaglutida and tirzepatida) that ended up triumphing as a method to lose weight. Pharmaceuticals responsible for these have not stopped working. New generation. Novo Nordisk, the Danish company responsible for the development of Ozempic and its active compound Semaglutida, announced a few days ago New advances In Cagrisema clinical trials, a drug that combines semaglutida with another similar compound, Cagrilintida. Now the pharmacist has announced another novelty in the development of the new generation of drugs capable of fighting diabetes and helping to reduce our weight, an exclusive license agreement for UBT251, a triple agonist associated with three different receptors. Danish is not the only pharmaceutical in this race. Cagrisema A few months ago, Novo Nordisk gave us new details Cagrisema. This is a drug based on Cagrilintida, in turn a compound that emulates amiline (and also calcitonin), similar to how the semagglutide emulates the peptide similar to type 1 glucagon (LPG-1). Redefine 2. In Your last announcementNovo Nordisk realized some results of the redefine 2 trials, the third phase of the clinical trials with which the safety and effectiveness of the new combined drug has been tested. The essay studied these factors over 68 weeks in more than 1,200 participants. The trial showed that the average weight loss of the group under treatment was 15.7%, considerably higher than the weight loss of the group to which a placebo was administered, which was 3.1%. The detailed results of the clinical trials of the Redfine program (Redefine 1 and Redefine 2), will be presented later this year, while the date the company manages for the approval of these treatments by the regulatory agencies is the first quarter of 2026. Triple agonist. But perhaps the main course is yet to come. This same week, the Danish pharmacist He also announced An exclusive license agreement for a new compound, now known as UBT251. Until now we already had double agonist drugs, such as the tirzepatid Zepbound and Mounjaro of the American pharmacist Eli Lilly. These drugs function as analogues of the GLP-1 and GIP hormones, but not the glucagon. New agreement. The agreement has been signed between Novo Nordisk and Chinese Laboratory United Biotechnology. By virtue of the contract, the latter will maintain the rights for the development, manufacture and marketing of the drug in continental China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; while the European will be responsible for these activities in the rest of the world. To the race. Novo Nordisk was the pharmacist who opened the melon of drugs against diabetes converted to treatments for weight loss but may not be the leader in the race to achieve the triple agonist drug, the new generation of medications of the Ozempic family. And is that the American Lilly advances in the development of the Festatrutidawhich is already found In phase III of their clinical trials. In Xataka | “I lost 55 kilos, but I recovered 30 when leaving it”: we talked to the Spaniards who have tried the roller coaster of Ozempic Image | HAVEREDAS / I Yunmai

Radja Nainggolan, said drugs, came from converting an Olympic goal into his return to football

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Belgian footballer Radja Nainggolan was allegedly indicated Monday as a member of an organization dedicated to drug trafficking so was put in preventive arrest. However, the unusual is that The arrest occurred just a couple of days after returning to professional football after six months of absence. Nainggolan, former member of the Belgium National Team and club player such as Inter Milan or Rome, had returned to the practice of professional football in the second division of his country with the humble Lakeren-Temse team just last weekend and His presence did not go unnoticed by scoring an impressive Olympic goal. The goal happened at minute 70 ′ while his team was down on the scoreboard. After charging a corner from the left, the ball closed with effect and culminated surprising the rival goal. Although the archer’s reflection was to take out the ball, it was already inside the arch and for its part Nainggolan was celebrating with the rest of his teammates. It is not clear if the club will terminate the Nainggolan contract before the signs of supposedly appearing in cocaine traffic that would have taken place in the time in which the player was away from the playing land. This is not the first time that Nainggolan is interfering with a controversy inside or outside football. In the past he faced facts related to alcohol, tobacco and drug use during his stage as a player, as well as a strong character for which he was expelled from both the courts and some clubs where he militated. Look at Nainggolan’s goal here: Continue reading: (tagstotranslate) f \ u00fatbol

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