Healthy Results: According to a survey, one in eight adults has taken Ozempic or other GLP-1 supplements

Good day! Use of a preferred class of weight reduction and diabetes medications is more common than ever.

According to 1 study, about one in eight adults within the United States has taken a GLP-1 drug in some unspecified time in the future Opinion poll from the health policy research organization KFF, published on Friday. About half of those Americans, or about 6% of U.S. adults, currently use one among these treatments.

This incorporates Novo Nordisk's weight reduction injection Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic, together with Eli LillyZepbound, the burden loss drug Zepbound, and its diabetes counterpart Mounjaro.

The survey shows that many Americans are taking the drugs, although there are occasional shortages as a consequence of continued demand. The treatments have turn into increasingly popular within the last yr, despite high costs and limited insurance coverage.

Let’s dive into among the data.

Most adults, greater than 60%, who took GLP-1 said they took it partly to treat chronic conditions corresponding to diabetes or heart disease. This includes 39% who took GLP-1 solely to treat a chronic condition and 23% who took it each to treat a chronic condition and to shed some pounds.

Meanwhile, 38% of adults who took GLP-1 said they used it specifically to shed some pounds.

Notably, GLP-1 use differed by race and ethnicity.

• About 18% of black adults have used one among these drugs
• About 14% of Hispanic adults have used them
• About 10% of white adults have taken one among these medications

According to KFF, black and Hispanic adults within the U.S. have higher rates of obesity than white adults evaluation of knowledge from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are also differences in line with age groups, in line with the survey.

Nearly 20% of adults ages 50 to 64 reported having taken GLP-1, which is higher than the proportions reported by other age groups.

However, younger adults were more likely than people age 65 and older to report taking GLP-1 specifically for weight reduction. KFF said this will be since the federal Medicare program doesn’t cover prescription weight reduction medications.

Medicare can only cover weight reduction treatments in the event that they are approved within the U.S. for added health advantages, corresponding to treating diabetes and reducing the danger of heart disease.

But nearly all of adults, no matter whether or not they have taken a GLP-1, said Medicare should cover the fee of the drugs when prescribed for weight reduction and for people who find themselves chubby, in line with the KFF survey.

Still, greater than half of health-insured adults who took GLP-1 reported that their medical health insurance covered among the cost of those medications. Meanwhile, 24% said their insurance covered the whole cost of the drug, and 19% said they paid the whole cost themselves.

The data points from this survey could change in the long run if GLP-1 receives approval to treat other conditions corresponding to sleep apnea and fatty liver disease, which might increase pressure on health insurers to cover these conditions. Stay tuned for our coverage of the usage of these medications.

You can send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

Google On Wednesday announced a brand new artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold 3 that may supposedly illustrate the complex interactions and structures of “all molecules of life.” The company hopes the model will transform drug discovery and biological research.

AlphaFold 3 predicts the shapes and behaviors of huge biomolecules corresponding to DNA, RNA and proteins, in addition to small molecules commonly utilized in pharmaceuticals, in line with Google blog entry. When prompted with an inventory of molecules, the model can show how all of them fit together by generating their common 3D structure.

Modeling molecules like proteins has historically been a tedious task for researchers. According to Google, experimental protein structure prediction can cost tons of of hundreds of dollars and take years to finish. According to Google, AlphaFold 3 could help speed up drug discovery and genomic research and contribute to latest scientific discoveries corresponding to “biologically renewable materials and more resilient crops.”

The model was developed by Google DeepMind, which researches and builds AI systems, and Isomorphic Labs, which explores applications of AI in drug development. Because AlphaFold 3 encompasses a broad group of biomolecules, it goes beyond the capabilities of AlphaFold 2that may predict the structures of proteins.

DeepMind announced AlphaFold 2 in 2020. It has been utilized by “millions” of researchers in areas corresponding to cancer treatments, malaria vaccines and enzyme design, Google said.

According to the blog post, AlphaFold 3 is capable of predict the interactions between proteins and other molecules at the very least 50% higher than other existing methods, and the model doubled the prediction accuracy for other interaction categories.

“We believe this new technology has the potential to transform biological research,” Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, said in an announcement LinkedIn post.

Google said scientists will give you the option to access the “majority” of AlphaFold 3's features free of charge through its latest AlphaFold server. The company launched the server as a part of its “ongoing commitment to sharing the benefits of AlphaFold,” the blog post said.

Researchers from Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs published their leads to the journal Nature.

Feel free to send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley ashley.caroot@nbcuni.com.