Is this the weight-loss drug we’ve been waiting for?

May 8, 2023
by RJ Hamster

This week: Excitement over a potential new obesity drug; foods that help your body fight off stress; understanding genetic tests for breast cancer; prescribing magic mushrooms; the truth about sweating out toxins; revisiting a shocking medieval health fad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOERG MUELLER, VISUM/REDUX

Is Mounjaro the weight-loss drug we’ve been waiting for?

People struggling with obesity are often fighting biology. That’s why a new class of drugs that includes Ozempic is showing more success than behavioral changes like dieting ever have. The newest drug in this group, Mounjaro, is a diabetes drug that the FDA is evaluating as an obesity treatment. Early results show it takes the benefits of Ozempic up a notch.

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These 7 hormones influence how much—or little—you eat. Can we influence them?

New medications, like Wegovy and Ozempic, can boost the effects of these hormones. But how we eat, exercise, and manage stress also play a big role in whether we gain or lose weight.

HOW TO CONTROL YOUR APPETITE

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These foods can help you fight off everyday stress

There’s no magic food bullet that will reduce stress in our lives, experts say. But getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, protein, and carbohydrates will help boost levels of hormones like serotonin, which keep us balanced. Here’s what you should be eating.

SEE THE LIST OF FOODS

FOODS TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION: These foods lower your risk of disease and inflammation. Here’s how. +

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Probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics. What’s the difference?

These beneficial microbes and molecules are critical to our gut health—and could help treat everything from obesity to depression to sleep disorders.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

PHOTOGRAPH BY AKOS STILLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

Should you get tested for a BRCA gene mutation? It’s complicated.

Certain genetic mutations can boost your risk of breast cancer—but getting tested for those mutations won’t necessarily give you a simple answer. Here’s what experts say you need to know when making the decision to get tested.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

A NEW WAY TO KILL TUMORS? These microbes found in tumors promote cancer. What if we just kill them? +

PSYCHEDELIC MEDICINE IS COMING

PHOTOGRAPH BY MERIDITH KOHUT, THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

… but who’s going to guide your trip? As the U.S. evaluates whether to approve therapies using MDMA and psilocybin—aka ecstasy and magic mushrooms—the medical community is preparing for the deluge of demand.

DEMAND WILL BE HIGH

Read more on using psychedelics:

•

Can microdosing psychedelics boost mental health? Here’s what the evidence suggests.

•

Why scientists want to create psychedelics that give better trips

•

A psychedelic surprise may be thriving in your local garden

•

European ‘shamans’ took psychedelic drugs 3,000 years ago

TRUE OR FALSE: CAN YOU REALLY SWEAT OUT TOXINS?

PHOTOGRAPH BY LAUREL GOLIO, REDUX

From infrared saunas to hot yoga, towel-soaking activities are being touted not only as relaxation tools, but also as ways to stay healthy by flushing out toxins. But what do researchers say about it? Is it a fact or a myth?

GET THE ANSWER

HEALTH NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

PAINTING BY PAUL DOMINIQUE PHILIPPOTEAUX VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

From the belief that gladiators’ blood could heal epilepsy to the use of human fat in homemade remedies, medical cannibalism was alive and well in medieval Western Europe. With the arrival of mumia—also known as Egyptian mummies—medical practitioners believed they’d hit upon a new source of healing products made from the human body.

A ‘CURE’ FOR HEADACHES AND HEART ATTACKS

Does eating close to bedtime make you gain weight? It depends.

You can smell when someone’s sick. Here’s how.

STDs are at a shocking high. How do we reverse the trend?

Can gum infections trigger arthritis symptoms? There’s growing evidence of a link.

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Sport for RJ

The Compass: How different cold and flu drugs work, could bears hold a clue to treating diabetes, and a mistake that changed medicine forever.

RJ Hamster

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Is this the weight-loss drug we’ve been waiting for?

Is this the weight-loss drug we’ve been waiting for?

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