Interesting drug with potentially huge implications for health care spending. Not only is kidney dialysis incredibly annoying for patients, it’s about 1% of total federal spending.
One of the "side effects" of human progress, specifically, our ability to produce more food from limited land since the Industrial Revolution, is the disconnect between our biology and technology.
For example, our advances in agriculture, food production, and storage, led us to select against foods that were high in Omega-3 fatty acids before we even knew they existed. We now know, but don't fully understand, that Omega-3s are essential for our health. We don't get enough of them.
Similarly, the industrial era favors foods that are easily grown, transported, and stored, which lends itself to low-nutrient, but calorie-dense carbohydrates. As a consequence, we get too many carbs and sugars, leading to many chronic illnesses, like kidney disease, obesity, and diabetes.
It probably shouldn't be surprising that drugs that target this pathology, the insulin resistance/overconsumption of carbohydrates issue, lead to a myriad of health benefits beyond the disease they are intended for. We are finding, for example, that Semaglutide doesn't only treat diabetes and obesity, but may also improve alzheimers, parkinsons, heart disease, among a host of others.
SGLT2 inhibitors look very promising! There are starting to be trials combining them with GLP-1 receptor agonists, and the combination generally looks even better than either alone.
Interesting drug with potentially huge implications for health care spending. Not only is kidney dialysis incredibly annoying for patients, it’s about 1% of total federal spending.
Nice piece here, Works in Progress.
One of the "side effects" of human progress, specifically, our ability to produce more food from limited land since the Industrial Revolution, is the disconnect between our biology and technology.
For example, our advances in agriculture, food production, and storage, led us to select against foods that were high in Omega-3 fatty acids before we even knew they existed. We now know, but don't fully understand, that Omega-3s are essential for our health. We don't get enough of them.
Similarly, the industrial era favors foods that are easily grown, transported, and stored, which lends itself to low-nutrient, but calorie-dense carbohydrates. As a consequence, we get too many carbs and sugars, leading to many chronic illnesses, like kidney disease, obesity, and diabetes.
It probably shouldn't be surprising that drugs that target this pathology, the insulin resistance/overconsumption of carbohydrates issue, lead to a myriad of health benefits beyond the disease they are intended for. We are finding, for example, that Semaglutide doesn't only treat diabetes and obesity, but may also improve alzheimers, parkinsons, heart disease, among a host of others.
SGLT2 inhibitors look very promising! There are starting to be trials combining them with GLP-1 receptor agonists, and the combination generally looks even better than either alone.