What could we do if GLP-1 weight loss drugs were free? Would our obesity epidemic be solved for good?
By CECI CONNOLY and SAMI INKINEN
Unless you have been living under a rock, you likely have heard the names Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro. Or perhaps been humming the jingle. Rarely has a class of drugs (in this case, GLP-1s) achieved such widespread attention in popular culture and the media, which has people clamoring for them in every doctor’s office in the nation.
And for good reason. What we know is that the efficacy and safety profile of these medications is substantially better than any weight loss drug in the past, while our obesity epidemic has only ballooned. As organizations committed to sound science and h...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 13, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy ACHP Ceci Connoly GLP-1s Obesity Sami Inkinen virta Source Type: blogs
‘ Miracle ’ Weight Loss Drugs Linked To Severe Digestive Problems
These weight loss drugs have been found to increase the risk of pancreatitis and other serious digestive disorders. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - October 28, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mina Dean Tags: Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
La Isla Incantada
Tomorrow I ' m going to Puerto Rico for a conference, returning Wednesday night. It ' s the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare. I ' m doing a poster and an oral presentation, and moderating three sessions, so I ' ll be busy. I should still have time to post however and if there are any interesting highlights you ' ll get them.My own talk is about experiences of people with substance use disorder with health care. The technical term for my finding is that they are treated like shit. There ' s much more than I can fit in there but I ' ll give you a few quotations from my interviews. These are people who ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - October 21, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
A woman in her 50s with chest pain and dyspnea
Submitted by anonymous, written by Pendell MeyersA woman in her 50s presented to the Emergency Department with chest pain and shortness of breath that woke her from sleep, with diaphoresis. She had a prior history of " NSTEMI " one month ago, during which she had a coronary angiogram reportedly showing no stenosis in any coronary artery. Her vitals were within normal limits.Here is her triage ECG:PM Cardio Version (see original screenshot I received below)Original image. What do you think?Here is the prior ECG on file (from 1 month ago, when she was having " NSTEMI " with high sensitivity troponin peaking at 200 ng/L):What...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - March 17, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Farewell, Landleigh Nelson. I (and others) in the Diabetes Community Will Miss You.
Over the weekend, I learned that Landileigh Lee (James) Nelson died on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. As many of her friends knew, in recent years, Landileigh (or as those closest to her called her " Landi " ) had been dealing with a number of health issues. She faced seemingly one health issue after another, including dialysis which began at one point. And yet she handled it all incredibly gracefully and with her typical sense of humor, which was one reason I was proud to call Landileigh my friend.In 2017, Landi posted that she had gotten a new haircut on Facebook. I thought it was a nice photo of her, and this is how I wish ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Landi Landileigh Nelson Obituary passage tribute Source Type: blogs
Farewell, Landleigh Nelson. I (and others in the Diabetes Community) Will Miss You.
Over the weekend, I learned that Landileigh Lee (nee James) Nelson died on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. As many of her friends knew, in recent years, Landileigh (or as those closest to her called her " Landi " ) had been dealing with a number of health issues. She faced seemingly one health issue after another, including dialysis which began at one point. And yet she handled it all incredibly gracefully and with her typical sense of humor, which was one reason I was proud to call Landileigh my friend.In 2017, Landi posted that she had gotten a new haircut on Facebook. I thought it was a nice photo of her, and this is how I w...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Landi Landileigh Nelson Obituary passage tribute Source Type: blogs
Are these Hyperacute T-waves?
I received this ECG in a text message, with the message:" Hey, these look like hyperacute T waves to me, what do you think? It ’s an intubated septic nursing home patient. " " Here is her old ECG: "What do you think?Here is my response:" There is something wrong with this ECG. It might be another case of pulse tapping artifact. Change the location of the limb Electrodes and repeat the EKG. All leads except lead I look bizarre. "So he repeated the ECG after moving the limb lead electrodes:Much less bizarre appearing, and without the suggestion of hyperacute T-wavesPulse Tapping ArtifactEver sin...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 5, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 699
Answer:Clonorchis sinensis/Opisthorchiseggs. The location (South Korea) is consistent withC. sinensis.As noted by Sam, " Both eggs have an abopercular knob and an obvious operculum. So these could be eggs of eitherClonorchis sinensisorOpisthorchisspecies (both liver flukes). We can ' t differentiate based on morphology, but based on the patient being from/living in South Korea, we can likely narrow the identification down toClonorchis sinensis, as Korea is an endemic region for this parasite. WhereasOpisthorichis viverriniis endemic to South East Asia (i.e, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand). Biliary complications can aris...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 23, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Important blood tests in relation to the heart – Cardiology Basics
Important blood tests in relation to the heart – Cardiology Basics
Here are some important blood tests in relation to the heart. Normal ranges of some of these tests may vary between labs.
Cholesterol is a type of fat found in the blood and has a role in the development of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries as well as other arteries. Desirable value of total cholesterol in blood is less than 200 milligrams per decilitre.
Triglycerides is another type of fat found in the blood. Desirable value is less than 150 milligrams per decilitre. Very high levels of triglycerides carry a risk of pancreatitis. Calorie restr...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 11, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Acute chest pain and a bizarre ECG
Written by Pendell MeyersA middle aged adult presented with acute undifferentiated chest pain.Here is his ECG at triage:What do you think?I sent this ECG with no clinical information to Dr. McLaren, who replied simply " Artifact " . He is referring to an artifactual ECG pattern that corresponds with the cardiac cycle which is known as " arterial pulse tapping artifact. " See the discussion and links at the end of the post for more information, but this phenotype of ECG artifact is not yet well understood (to my knowledge). In some cases, it has been attributed to placement of an electrode near a pulsing anatomic...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - August 26, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
A woman in her 40s with intractable nausea and vomiting, dyspnea, and lightheadedness
Submitted and written by Oriane Longerstaey MD, peer reviewed by Meyers, Smith, and McLarenA woman in her 40s with diabetes and HLD presented with nausea and vomiting x3 days. She was seen on day 1 of symptoms at an outside ED, no ECG performed, and sent home with return precautions and zofran, which she had been taking around the clock for persistent nausea and vomiting. She presented on day 3 of symptoms because of new onset dyspnea, tachycardia, lightheadedness, and heart palpitations. She had a " burning " sensation in her chest but no " pain " .A 12 lead EKG was obtained at triage: - Sinus rhythm at 96 bpm&...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 21, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
A deadly alcohol binge: a man in his 30s with chest pain and initial high sensitivity troponin I within normal limits
Submitted and written by Emergency Physician Dr. Arjun J V, with some minimal edits by Smith and MeyersA man in his 30s was rushed into our ED on a Sunday morning with continuous chest pain for 2 hours. The patient was drowsy but following simple commands and was pointing to his left chest where it hurt with a single finger. He said the pain started after he tried to vomit forcefully. He also had the odor of alcohol to his breath. The patient voluntarily told the team he had half a bottle of whiskey the previous night and he was uncomfortable ever since he woke up. He did, however, consume alcohol on a regular basis but ne...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 29, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
September 2021: Agonizing Belly Pain
“I need something for this pain. I think I need surgery."He looked like he was in agony. This 20-something patient looked like a kid, and he didn't seem like he would be crying unless it was excruciating.But his belly seemed pretty benign. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had had rebound because he motioned to his xiphoid. The picture could have fit a perforation. An ulcer could have done this to him. He didn't drink alcohol, so that put pancreatitis lower on the list.Kidney stones can make men look like they are giving birth, but no blood was in the urine, and he had only mid-abdominal pain. It did seem like...
Source: Lions and Tigers and Bears - September 1, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Pancreatitis with Bizarre T-wave inversions and a normal echo. Is it takotsubo?
I was shown this ECG and told that the patient is suffering from another bout of chronic pancreatitis. I was told there was no chest discomfort or SOB. What do you think?I said " this looks like takotsubo " .With this ECG and the presumptive diagnosis of pancreatitis, takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy is by far most likely. It is possible that it is due to ACS, but thebizarre diffuse T-wave inversions with a very long QT are nearly pathognomonic of takotsubo. (They can also be seen in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but this patient did not have any such history and previous ECGs were different)If ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 31, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Do vitamin D, zinc, and other supplements help prevent COVID-19 or hasten healing?
In this study, people whose symptoms did not require hospital admission were randomly assigned to receive
only vitamin C, 8,000 mg/day (the recommended daily amount is 75 mg/day for women and 90 mg/day for men)
only zinc, 50 mg/day (the recommended daily amount is 8 mg/day for women, 11 mg/day for men)
both supplements at the doses above
neither supplement.
The researchers found that people receiving the supplements, whether individually or combined, had no improvement in symptoms or a faster recovery when compared with otherwise similar patients receiving neither supplement.
Proponents of melatonin for COVID-19 have enc...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 5, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Vitamins and supplements Source Type: blogs
