Survey shows that one in eight adults has taken GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic | Wilnesh News

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Good afternoon! Use of a popular class of weight loss and diabetes medications is more common than ever.

About 1 in 8 adults in the United States have used GLP-1 drugs at some point in their lives, according to one study poll Data from health policy research group KFF released last week. About half of Americans, or about 6% of U.S. adults, are currently using one of these treatments.

include Novo Nordiskthe weight-loss injection Wegovy and the diabetes drug Ozempic, as well as Eli Lilly and Companyweight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro.

Surveys show that large numbers of Americans are still taking the drugs, despite ongoing demand that has led to intermittent shortages. Despite their high cost and limited insurance coverage, these treatments have surged in popularity over the past year.

Let’s dig into some data.

The majority of adults who use GLP-1 (that is, more than 60%) say they take GLP-1 in part to control chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Among them, 39% took GLP-1 only to treat chronic diseases, and 23% took GLP-1 both to treat chronic diseases and to lose weight.

Meanwhile, 38% of adults who take GLP-1 said they use them exclusively to lose weight.

Of note, GLP-1 use varies by race and ethnicity.

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

Black and Hispanic adults in the U.S. have higher obesity rates than white adults, according to KFF analyze Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are also differences between different age groups, the survey said.

Nearly 20% of adults ages 50 to 64 said they had taken GLP-1 before, a higher rate than reported for other age groups.

However, younger adults were more likely to report taking GLP-1 specifically for weight loss than older adults aged 65 and older. KFF said this may reflect the fact that Medicare does not cover prescription weight loss drugs.

Medicare can only cover weight-loss treatments if they are approved in the United States and provide additional health benefits, such as treating diabetes and reducing the risk of heart disease.

But according to KFF’s survey, most adults, whether taking GLP-1 or not, believe that health insurance should cover the cost of the drug for weight loss and overweight people.

Still, more than half of adults with health insurance who take GLP-1s say their plans cover some of the cost of the drugs. Meanwhile, 24% said their insurance covered the entire cost of the medication, and 19% said they paid the entire cost themselves.

Data points in this survey may change in the future as GLP-1 gains approval for new uses, such as sleep apnea and fatty liver disease, which will put greater pressure on health plans that cover these conditions. . Stay tuned for our coverage of the use of these drugs.

Please feel free to send Annika any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data: annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

Google Wednesday announced a new artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold 3, which it says can account for the complex interactions and structure of “all the molecules of life.” The company hopes the model will transform drug discovery and biological research.

According to Google, AlphaFold 3 can predict the shape and behavior of large biomolecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins, as well as small molecules commonly used in drugs Blog article. When the model presents a list of molecules, it can show how they fit together by generating their joint 3D structure.

Modeling molecules such as proteins has historically been a difficult task for researchers. Google says experimental protein structure predictions can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take years to complete. As a result, Google says AlphaFold 3 can help accelerate drug discovery and genomics research, and contribute to new scientific discoveries such as “biorenewable materials and more resilient crops.”

The model was developed by Google DeepMind, which researches and builds artificial intelligence systems, and Isomorphic Labs, which explores the application of artificial intelligence in drug development.Because AlphaFold 3 contains a wide range of biomolecules, its capabilities go beyond alpha fold 2can only predict the structure of a protein.

DeepMind released AlphaFold 2 in 2020.

According to the blog post, AlphaFold 3 is able to predict interactions between proteins and other molecules at least 50% better than other existing methods, and the model doubles the prediction accuracy for other interaction categories.

“We believe this new technology has the potential to revolutionize biological research,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement. LinkedIn Post.

Google said scientists will be able to access “most” features of AlphaFold 3 for free through its new AlphaFold servers. The blog post said the company launched the server as part of its “continued commitment to sharing the benefits of AlphaFold.”

Researchers from Google DeepMind and Isomorphism Labs published their findings in the scientific journal Nature.

Please feel free to send Ashley any tips, suggestions, story ideas, and data: ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.