Are GLP-1 Drugs "the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of the 21st Century"?

Are GLP-1 Drugs "the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of the 21st Century"?

In the past few years, we've learned that GLP-1 drugs don’t just help with diabetes or increase people’s feelings of fullness to help them lose weight. They have broad effects on substance abuse and behavior. They even seem to help with otherwise incurable illnesses, like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. This month, a team of scientists studying 2 million patients in the Veterans Affairs medical system found that GLP-1s were associated with “a reduced risk of substance use and psychotic disorders, seizures, neurocognitive disorders (including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia), coagulation disorders (clotting), cardiometabolic disorders (like strokes and heart attacks), infectious illnesses and several respiratory conditions.” Today’s guest is a coauthor on the paper, Ziyad Al-Aly. He is a physician-scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. We talk about his new paper, the steps he took to make sure his findings were trustworthy, why GLP-1 drugs might work so well, what they’re teaching us about the brain and body, how they’re scrambling our sense of where volition begins and where free will ends, and what scientists should do next with the revelation that these drugs have effects that go far beyond obesity and diabetes. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Ziyad Al-Aly Producer: Devon Baroldi Links: Al-Aly et al. on the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 drugs [link] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(348)

Microplastics Are Everywhere. How Dangerous Are They?

Microplastics Are Everywhere. How Dangerous Are They?

Plastic is a life-saving technology. Plastic medical equipment like disposable syringes and IV bags reduce deaths in hospitals. Plastic packaging keeps food fresh longer. Plastic parts in cars make ca...

31 Mai 202446min

Why the New NBA Deal Is So Weird. Plus, How Sports Rights Actually Work.

Why the New NBA Deal Is So Weird. Plus, How Sports Rights Actually Work.

In an age of cults, sports are the last gasp of the monoculture—the last remnant of the 20th century mainstream still standing. Even so, the new NBA media rights deal is astonishing. At a time when ba...

28 Mai 202448min

What America’s Bold New Economic Experiment Is Missing

What America’s Bold New Economic Experiment Is Missing

The news media is very good at focusing on points of disagreement in our politics. Wherever Democrats and Republicans are butting heads, that's where we reliably find news coverage. When right and lef...

24 Mai 202459min

The Five Superstars Who Invented the Modern NBA

The Five Superstars Who Invented the Modern NBA

The game of basketball has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. In the early 1990s, Michael Jordan said that 3-point shooting was "something I don’t want to excel at," because he thought it migh...

21 Mai 202449min

Are Smartphones Really Driving the Rise in Teenage Depression?

Are Smartphones Really Driving the Rise in Teenage Depression?

Today—a closer critical look at the relationship between smartphones and mental health. One of the themes we’ve touched on more than any other on this show is that American teenagers—especially girls—...

14 Mai 202438min

Are Flying Cars Finally Here?

Are Flying Cars Finally Here?

For decades, flying cars have been a symbol of collective disappointment—of a technologically splendid future that was promised but never delivered. Whose fault is that? Gideon Lewis-Kraus, a staff wr...

7 Mai 202459min

How the Logic of Cults Is Taking Over Modern Life

How the Logic of Cults Is Taking Over Modern Life

Several years ago, I told some friends that I had an idea for a second book. It would be called ‘Everything Is a Cult.’ I’d noticed that in an age of declining religiosity, capitalism was filling the ...

3 Mai 202456min

How Will the Gaza War Finally End?

How Will the Gaza War Finally End?

Today, with Gaza protests spreading across the country and around the world, we dive deep into what’s actually happening on the ground in the war between Israel and Hamas—and how this war might actual...

30 Apr 202442min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
stopp-verden
forklart
i-retten
popradet
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
bt-dokumentar-2
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
e24-podden