Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Supplements marketed to improve longevity are booming.</li><li>But longevity doctors say, actually, less is more when it comes to flashy supplements.</li></ul>Renew your mitochondria. Rejuvenate your cells. Bring back that youthful muscle strength. Improve your fertility.Over the past several years, a plethora of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nestle-and-loreal-are-betting-on-urolithin-a-longevity-supplement-2024-10">new supplements</a> have emerged on the scene, promising to boost human longevity and preserve youthfulness. Now, longevity doctors are scrambling to get people to slow down."In our clinic, we are de-prescribing," Dr. Andrea Maier, a leading longevity doctor who runs both a private and a public longevity clinic in Singapore, told Business Insider. "We first have to diagnose what's wrong, what somebody needs, and that might differ."Maier, also a professor of medicine and functional aging at the National University of Singapore, is one of several longevity medicine doctors who told BI that they are recommending patients <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supplement-expert-doesnt-take-supplements-eats-vegan-2023-11">stop taking many of the supplements</a> they have learned about online."People think that more helps more, and it's not the case," Dr. Evelyne Bischof, who practices longevity medicine in China, Switzerland, and Israel, told BI. "There are interactions, there are side effects."Bischof and other longevity medicine practitioners say the trend toward overdoing it has been supercharged in recent years by more aggressive and flashy online marketing of longevity supplements. Ads on Facebook, books by longevity influencers, along with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/equinox-40000-membership-optimize-longevity-health-years-2024-5">gyms</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-obsessed-longevity-luxury-hotels-iv-drips-mri-scans-2024-10">resorts</a> are touting antiaging fixes.According to a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/the-trends-defining-the-1-point-8-trillion-dollar-global-wellness-market-in-2024">McKinsey survey</a>, demand for healthy aging products is soaring; 70% of American consumers across all age groups are spending more in this category than they used to post-pandemic.Doctors like Maier and Bischof say supplements can slowly build up to dangerous health issues, impacting vital organs like the kidneys and the liver or interacting with other drugs and supplements in toxic combinations.Increasingly, they are seeing concerning results from blood, urine, and other tests on patients who take many different products.<h2 id="ac30069c-c621-4f87-835b-6cece95b1fb0">Overdoing supplements can hurt your health</h2><div type="image" title="hand with lots of different supplements in it" height="3449" width="5142" msid="115111811" hostid="261" sizebytes="403768"></div>In the past, patients typically hadn't invested in healthy aging supplements on their own. They would learn about them for the first time from their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a-longevity-clinic-executive-physical-2024-5">longevity medicine</a> doctor, said Bischof, who serves patients at hospitals in Shanghai and Tel Aviv, as well as in her own VIP concierge longevity medicine business.Things have shifted since the pandemic. In the public clinic where she works in Israel, she estimates that 20% of patients come in with a laundry list of longevity supplements in their regimen, most of them too highly dosed."Five years ago, it was really the opposite," Bischof said. "It was trying to convince a patient to actually take a supplement — besides the vitamins."In her practice, she has seen through clinical testing how supplements can build up in vital organs. One 40-year-old patient who "really overdid" his longevity supplement doses had a biological age four years older than his actual age, as measured by his blood. He also had suboptimal kidney function.He didn't want to quit taking the pills (Bischof did not name the products), but his subsequent blood tests were only looking worse and worse, and his biological age kept creeping up.Eventually, Bischof was able to convince the patient to stop taking his longevity supplements. "And, of course, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-biological-age-is-reverse-aging-possible-2023-2">biological age</a> reversed," she said.Others have noticed the same trend.Pharmacologist Myriam Merarchi, founder and CEO of the Swiss fertility and biological age testing company Beyond Genomix, sees a lot of "biohackers" wanting to test their telomeres, since telomere health is tightly correlated with aging. The ones with a "suitcase" full of supplements tend to have horrible results."You take 50 pills a day that are interfering with every metabolic pathway of your cells," Merarchi said. "Of course!"<h2 id="df59810c-9839-43c6-9998-cedfc378ce6a">The interactions doctors worry about</h2><div type="image" title="Maier with a dog on the couch" height="1772" width="1181" msid="115111809" hostid="261" sizebytes="156708"></div>Longevity supplements are a booming market. Popular new products touted on TikTok and Instagram include <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-nad-longevity-supplement-hollywood-uses-prevent-aging-2024-7">NAD boosters</a> (a popular antiaging supplement among the Hollywood elite), <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nestle-and-loreal-are-betting-on-urolithin-a-longevity-supplement-2024-10">urolithin A</a> (ostensibly boosts cellular health, improves muscle strength, and slows aging), and coenzyme Q10 (a popular antioxidant for fertility and aging).Doctors are also seeing a lot of alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG). The compound, being <a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37217632/">studied clinically</a> as a potential antiaging supplement, is one of the main ingredients in a new $49 "Longevity Mix" sold by tech biohacker Bryan Johnson.Dietician Naras Lapsys, chief clinical officer at Chi Longevity, a private clinic in Singapore, says many people are piling these newer pills on top of older, popular longevity supplements. That could be resveratrol (used for heart health) or spermidine (touted as being good for rejuvenating cells)."If you're taking a longevity supplement, there's no evidence to suggest at all taking one is good and therefore two is even better and three is even better again," Lapsys said. "A good starting point is to strip down to a lesser number and start measuring."Someone who's dehydrated regularly might want to think twice before taking a supplement like NMN, which can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.09.588624v1.full.pdf">build up in the kidneys</a> and cause inflammation. CoQ10 can make blood thinners less effective, and resveratrol might <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/resveratrol">help hormonal cancers</a> like breast cancer thrive and proliferate."If you are just taking supplements because a book has told you or an influencer has told you, if we think about levels of evidence, that sits pretty low," Lapsys said. "Test, don't guess."<h2 id="5a439981-0ef7-46e4-98d0-bdda1f648469">Experts recommend a personalized, data-driven approach</h2>All of this is deeply personal. One patient might benefit from getting more calcium, while another could benefit from ditching their B vitamins."I understand that not everybody can get a doctor," Bischof said. "We're trying to say, just educate yourself on what could be the side effect and how — a little bit — to track it."For patients who are excited about longevity supplements, Bischof recommends cycling them, taking one for a few months, and then pausing instead of taking them continuously throughout the year.When you are taking a new kind of longevity supplement, you should keep tabs on how it is affecting your health in specific ways. Is your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vo2-max-explained-what-is-good-how-improve-2024-3">VO2 max</a> improving? Do you have fewer colds during flu season than you used to? These are the kinds of simple check-ins that can help determine if a supplement is doing something for you."Have at least one marker that you can follow, an objective marker, to make sure that it's actually helping you," Bischof said. "Do not take something where you think it might help. You need to have an objective measure that will confirm that it works for you at this dose, at this frequency, at this age, in your current situation."

Longevity doctors are scrambling to get patients to stop taking flashy, expensive supplements

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sword Health cut a portion of physical therapists last month, the company confirmed to BI.</li><li>The startup is working to increase the number of patients its physical therapists care for using AI.</li></ul>Sword Health has made cuts to its clinical workforce as the $3 billion startup seeks to manage more patients with the help of AI, Business Insider has learned.The startup, which provides virtual care for conditions like muscle and joint pain, let go of 13 of its physical therapists treating patients in October, Sword confirmed to Business Insider.Three former employees who spoke with BI on the condition of anonymity said Sword previously had around 75 physical therapists actively caring for patients, putting the October cuts at around 17% of Sword's treatment-facing clinicians.The layoffs come as Sword seeks to enable its PTs to treat more patients using AI. Sword aims to have its physical therapists manage an average of 700 patients at any given time by the end of 2024, according to documents reviewed by BI. That's a significant jump from the caseload previously allotted to Sword's clinicians, according to three former employees, who said a high caseload at the beginning of 2024 would've been around 200 to 300 patients per therapist. These numbers could include patients who aren't actively engaged in therapy, according to the company.In a statement to BI, a Sword spokesperson said the cuts were "all performance-based decisions, made on clinical engagement data." The spokesperson said Sword currently has open positions for more than 30 physical therapists. Sword, which hit a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/introducing-phoenix">$3 billion valuation</a> in June after pulling in $130 million in fresh financing, has been vocal about its ambitions to scale its business using AI while keeping clinicians in the loop."What we're looking to do internally is to have AI as one master expert, but at the same time, everything gets vetted and validated by a human person," CEO Virgilio Bento <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sword-health-strategy-focusing-on-ai-ahead-of-a-potential-ipo-2023-8">told BI</a> in September 2023.Three former employees said that Sword began using AI-generated messages for patient conversations in the spring. The technology allows the physical therapists to accept an AI-generated message, edit it, or reject it, before sending the message to patients, the former employees said. The AI also helps PTs prioritize the most critical patients who might need more attention, according to the company. Following its $130 million financing round, Sword announced an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/introducing-phoenix">expansion of its AI platform</a> with a new product that the company said can converse with patients during their virtual physical therapy sessions and give them feedback in real time.It's also hoping to land more employer contracts with an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/outcome-pricing">outcomes-based pricing model</a>, unveiled in September. In those contracts, Sword will get paid based on how much progress its patients make.Sword's recent technology and pricing pushes also point to an approaching IPO. Bento told BI in 2023 that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sword-health-strategy-focusing-on-ai-ahead-of-a-potential-ipo-2023-8">he'd only be interested in taking Sword public if it's profitable</a>. The startup said in June that it expects to be profitable by the end of 2024, and could go public <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2024/06/04/sword-healths-road-to-ipo">as soon as the second half of 2025</a>.It's not the only digital health startup waiting at the IPO gates. Its biggest competitor, musculoskeletal startup Hinge Health, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hinge-health-s-1-morgan-stanley-ipo-2024-9">has hired banks, including Morgan Stanley, to file its S-1</a> in anticipation of a public market debut, Business Insider first reported in September.Omada Health is also expected to test the IPO waters. BI first reported in October that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-omada-health-confidentially-filed-s1-ipo-public-2024-10">Omada filed its S-1 this summer</a>.

$3 billion startup Sword Health cuts some physical therapists as it ramps up AI to treat more patients

As nationwide protests by doctors continue over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee case at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, <keyword id="19934441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="patients" source="keywords">patients</keyword> at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital are experiencing delays in treatment. On Thursday, long queues formed, as the hospital struggled with reduced staffing due to the ongoing strike. Dr Ajay Shukla, Medical Superintendent at RML Hospital, said that they faced issues due to the influx of <keyword id="19934441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="patients" source="keywords">patients</keyword> from distant locations. "Our faculty are doing their best to attend to patients in the OPD, but due to the shortage of doctors, it's taking more time. Our elective operation theatres (OTs) are functioning, but compared to before the strike, there has been a decline. Emergency OTs are operating normally, but there is a 40% reduction in elective OTs," he said. Dr Shukla expressed hope that the doctors would end their strike soon, noting that the <keyword id="19900449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="government" source="keywords">government</keyword> has addressed all their demands."I appealed to the doctors yesterday to call off their strike. I hope it will be called off today, as the <keyword id="19900449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="government" source="keywords">government</keyword> has met all their demands. The matter is also being heard in the Supreme Court, and the Chief Justice of India has also made an appeal," he added. A patient at the hospital told that his operation had been delayed for a long time. "Every time I come here, they delay the operation with some excuse. I have no place to stay and have to sleep on the street," he said. Another patient, Rakesh Verma, who came for his 32-year-old son's treatment, said he had visited many <keyword id="19910449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hospitals" source="keywords">hospitals</keyword>, including private ones, without success. "My son's hands and feet have swollen in the last 2-3 days. We have been going to government <keyword id="19910449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hospitals" source="keywords">hospitals</keyword>, but they are on strike. I even went to a private hospital, but there was no help. Where should I go now?" he asked. Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry issued an Office Memorandum on Wednesday regarding the National Task Force, formed by the Supreme Court to ensure the safety of <keyword id="20551393" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="medical-professionals" source="keywords">medical professionals</keyword>. The panel will be headed by Cabinet Secretary, Government of India as its Chairperson, and has been constituted following the Supreme Court's direction on August 20. Due to the ongoing strike by resident doctors, services at AIIMS, Delhi, are severely impacted. OPD services are down by 65%, admissions by 40%, operation theatres reduced by 90%, laboratory services by 30%, radiological investigations by 55%, and nuclear medicine by 20%, as of 4:30 pm yesterday. On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, sparking nationwide strikes and protests by the medical community. <h2>Commute also disrupted </h2>Not just patients, commuters in Delhi-NCR also faced a tough time, as taxi and autorickshaw drivers began their two-day strike on Thursday, demanding better compensation from cab aggregator services. Taxi and auto unions said inadequate compensation, coupled with aggergators launching bike taxi services has hit their livelihood. 80% of autorickshaws and taxis are off the road in the national capital, Delhi Auto Taxi Transport Congress Union (DATTCU) president Kishan Verma claimed, and announced that a protest will be held at the Jantar Mantar. Anil Pradhan, a cab driver, demanded a ban on bike taxis that offer services using non-commercial numberplates. "The government should step in and ban the commercial plying of vehicles with non-commercial numberplates. It is becoming difficult to make ends meet," he said. Adarsh Tiwari, another cab driver, said, "The companies offer us very less rate for our services. Due to this, we are unable to pay the installments of our vehicles and meet other expenses. We are unable to ensure good education for our children and sufficient food for our families." People took to social media to complaint about delay in getting cabs and cancellations. "Spent the last 35 mins trying to get a cab in Noida for Delhi. What's wrong with @Olacabs @Uber_India @rapidobikeapp," X user Prashhush posted. Another X user, Kshitiz Agarwal said,"Is it only me or uber doesn't work anymore now? Couldn't find a uber cab for 30 mins nowadays even at posh localities like south extension, new delhi #uber #ola." DATTCU president Verma said that "we will also be holding a protest at Jantar Mantar to demand a ban on plying of private vehicles by cab aggregator companies. Why are we made to take permits and pay taxes when private vehicles are allowed to ply? We demand that the government impose a ban on them."

Doctor protests disrupt services, patients face long delays, auto and cab drivers on strike as well

<ul><li><keyword id="19985233" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Neuralink" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Neuralink" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Neuralink">Neuralink</keyword> has implanted another volunteer with its <keyword id="20386218" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="brain-chip" source="keywords">brain chip</keyword>. </li><li><keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword> says everything went extremely well. </li><li>Neuralink impanted its first chip in January this year. </li></ul> The idea of being able to control things using your mind has been widely explored in Sci-Fi movies as well as TV shows and web series for a long time. Be it the likes of X Men and Fantastic Four or Stranger Things and I Am Not Okay With This, the concept of telekinesis is something that always intrigues people. And Elon Musk’s Neuralink recently made this Sci-Fi concept a reality. Well, almost. Even though people can’t lift objects 10 times heavier than their own weight by the power of their mind, it is possible to move mouse cursors, play video games and post on social media using just the mind. And that’s a start. In January this year, Neuralink implanted its brain chip in a 29-year-old man, <keyword id="21032940" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="noland-arbaugh" source="keywords">Noland Arbaugh</keyword>, who has been paralysed from below shoulders since 2016. Now, the company has implanted the chip in its second patient. Neuralink boss Elon Musk says that the procedure went “extremely well.” <h2>Elon Musk on Neuralink's second patient</h2>Musk spoke about the implant during a recent podcast with <keyword id="20908721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lex-fridman" source="keywords">Lex Fridman</keyword>. The tech mogul said that he doesn’t want to “jinx” anything but the procedure went “extremely well” this time. He added, “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well.” In the podcast released late Friday that lasted over eight hours, Musk said that the second patient too had an injured spinal cord, similar to the first patient. The billionaire didn’t reveal the exact time and date of the surgery but said that 400 of the implant’s electrodes are functioning in the second patient’s brain. According to Neuralink’s website, their implant uses a total of 1,024 electrodes. In addition to this, Musk also mentioned Neuralink’s plans to implant the brain chip in eight more patients this year as part of its clinical trials. In May this year, Musk had announced that Neuralink was looking for the second participant who wants to get the brain chip implanted. "Neuralink is accepting applications for the second participant. This is our Telepathy cybernetic brain implant that allows you to control your phone and computer just by thinking. No one better than Noland (@ModdedQuad) himself to tell you about the first," Musk wrote in a tweet back then. <h2>About Neuralink’s brain chip and its first patient</h2>As mentioned already, at the end of January this year, Neuralink announced its first successful brain chip implant in a human. Arbaugh, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down after an accident, received the implant on January 28. Just two days after surgery, he was reported to be recovering well. After 100 days of the implant, Neuralink talked about Arbaugh's progress in a blog post. Before the implant, Arbaugh used a mouth-held tablet stylus to interact with digital devices which was cumbersome. After the implant, he could control his laptop and other devices more easily, even while lying down. Not just that, he could even play games using just his mind. However, some issues also arose with the implant, as a few threads began retracting from his brain. It was never mentioned just how many threads had retracted. Neuralink, in the blog post, said that researchers adapted their techniques, leading to improved control and performance of the implant. "In the weeks following the surgery, a number of threads retracted from the brain, resulting in a net decrease in the number of effective electrodes. This led to a reduction in BPS. In response to this change, we modified the recording algorithm to be more sensitive to neural population signals, improved the techniques to translate these signals into cursor movements, and enhanced the user interface. These refinements produced a rapid and sustained improvement in BPS, that has now superseded Noland’s initial performance," the blog post read. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musks-neuralink-brain-implant-to-ultimately-help-humans-merge-with-ai-is-sparking-debate-over-safety-and-ethics/articleshow/108851008.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant to ultimately help humans merge with AI </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/research/article/promising-new-brain-reading-tech-can-decode-internal-speech-but-can-it-give-musks-neuralink-a-run-for-its-money/articleshow/110134907.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Promising new brain-reading tech can decode internal speech, but can it give Musk’s Neuralink a run for its money?</a>

Neuralink implants its brain chip in second patient, Elon Musk says it is working very well

A new study by <keyword id="5069783" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Centre-for-Chronic-Disease-Control" source="Orion">Centre for Chronic Disease Control</keyword>, India (CCDC) on cardiovascular risk reduction in South Asia has demonstrated significant long-term benefits of a multi-faceted quality improvement (QI) strategy, comprising of task sharing, and clinical decision support software (CDSS) with electronic health records, in managing type-2 diabetes in India and Pakistan. The study, published in the prestigious journal PLOS Medicine, highlights the sustained impact of QI interventions on <keyword id="21411276" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="diabetes-care" source="keywords">diabetes care</keyword> and associated complications over a median follow-up period of 6.5 years. The burden of diabetes Diabetes control remains a global challenge, leading to severe complications such as <keyword id="22908" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="heart-disease" source="Orion">heart disease</keyword>, <keyword id="25191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stroke" source="Orion">stroke</keyword>, <keyword id="16753" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blindness" source="Orion">blindness</keyword> or visual impairment, and kidney and nerve damage. LMICs are often faced with challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and trained healthcare staff with digital literacy. In that respect, the study's findings are crucial for integrating care models sustainably and identifying relevant organizational barriers. Previous studies from high-income countries showed improvements in diabetes care, but their long-term impact on vascular complications and mortality was unclear. This study aimed to address the critical gap in data regarding the long-term effectiveness of QI strategies and their impacts on vascular complications in LMICs. Professor Nikhil Tandon, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and senior author of the study explained the relevance of these findings in the context of national efforts to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs). He said, "The <keyword id="22511956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Programme-for-NCDs" source="keywords">National Programme for NCDs</keyword> [NP-NCDs] operationalized by the Government of India has already a functional portal which provides an electronic health record functionality. Integrating the CDSS in this portal will provide significant incremental benefit to the impact of the National Programme, and bolster governmental efforts to battle the scourge of NCDs including diabetes and hypertension." Speaking about the findings, Prof. (Dr) Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Executive Director, CCDC, and one of the study authors, said, "Through the trial, we've demonstrated that a sustained quality improvement strategy can significantly enhance diabetes care and reduce complications in South Asia. For every 13 patients treated with this strategy, one major adverse cardiovascular event like heart attacks or strokes- or a microvascular event -like eye disease or decline in kidney function- was prevented, showcasing its profound impact on patient outcomes." Professor MK Ali, William H. Foege Distinguished Professor of Global Health, Emory University and one of the key authors of this article, said, "This study is an exemplar of trans-national collaboration for benefits of both, the global south and global north." Study Design and Findings The randomized clinical trial included 1,146 patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes across ten outpatient diabetes clinics from January 2011 through September 2019. Participants were randomized to receive either the QI strategy, which involved trained non-physician care coordinators and a clinical decision support software (CDSS) integrated into the electronic health record form, for physicians, or the usual care. Some of the key findings from the study include: <ul><li>At 6.5 years, patients in the QI strategy group were nearly twice as likely to achieve and maintain target levels for HbA1c (&lt;7%), systolic blood pressure (&lt;130mmHg), and LDL-cholesterol (&lt;100mg/dl), compared to the usual care group. </li><li> The incidence of first microvascular complications, such as diabetic eye disease, decline in kidney function, and nerve pain was notably 32% lower in the QI group. </li><li>There was a significant 28% reduction in the combined occurrence of microvascular and macrovascular events in the QI group.</li></ul> Importantly, these benefits were sustained only in clinics that continued the QI strategy for 6.5 years. With diabetes accounting for one in seven deaths in South Asia, the study provides unique insights into the sustainability of QI strategies in achieving diabetes care goals in low- and middle-income (LMICs) and the effects of these improvements on reducing vascular complications and diabetes-related deaths.

CCDC study reveals multi-pronged diabetes care improves patient outcomes in India, Pakistan

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The high price of weight-loss drugs is frustrating for patients who can't access them, a doctor said.</li><li>Patients struggle to afford these drugs, leading to cycling, rationing, or using risky alternatives.</li></ul>Pharmaceutical companies are facing a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/novo-nordisk-ceo-faces-senate-questions-over-high-prices-of-ozempic-and-wegovy-in-us-1033798280">new wave of criticism</a> for the high price of groundbreaking weight-loss drugs.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-weight-loss-meds-injections-compare-costs-results-side-effects">GLP-1 medications</a> like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) have skyrocketed in popularity, helping people lose up to 15-20% of their body weight and even slash their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wegovy-reduces-risk-of-heart-attack-stroke-death-study-2023-8">risk of heart attack</a>.But a list price of around $1,000 per month or more means the treatments are out of reach for many patients.It puts doctors in an awkward position, too — wanting to prescribe these potentially life-changing drugs, but knowing they could be sending their patients on a complicated financial journey."Patients that I speak to have tried nearly every strategy to obtain anti-obesity medications," <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://trueyouweightloss.com/about/meet-the-team/dr-christopher-mcgowan/">Dr. Christopher McGowan</a>, a gastroenterologist and obesity medicine specialist, told Business Insider.Many insurers have dropped coverage in the past year, McGowan said."While it's clear that semaglutide and tirzepatide represent tremendous advances in obesity management, what does it matter if no one can afford them?" McGowan said.The end result is that the people who need these drugs most are taking uncharted, unresearched risks to get the medications.<h2 id="98c0484b-95b1-476a-be13-71c0822e754e">Patients are rationing doses to cut costs</h2>GLP-1 medications work by mimicking a hormone in the body that helps regulate appetite and blood sugar.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weight-loss-glp-1-drugs-ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-effects-future-2023-12">latest generation of these class of drugs</a>, medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, are once-weekly injections.The caveat is that in order to maintain the weight loss, you need to keep taking the drugs, but McGowan said that's just not possible at the current price point."This is why we so often see patients cycling on and off medications. Unfortunately, short-term use doesn't translate into long-term benefit," he said.In some cases, patients say they've tried to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-really-like-find-affordable-weight-loss-drugs-patient-2024-9">space out their doses</a>, and found their weight creeping back up.<h2 id="ffe4633a-0741-4479-9135-9ecd9bb4e9ff">Copycat drugs are dominating the online market</h2>A booming industry of websites and telehealth companies have jumped at the chance to sell patients their weight loss drugs for cheap, but there's a major catch, according to McGowan.These providers are offering <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buy-compounded-semaglutide-online-risks-wegovy-ozempic-2023-1">compounded semaglutide</a> and tirzepatide, which contains the same active ingredient as branded products, but isn't FDA-approved."The compounded GLP-1 market has absolutely exploded," he said. "These drugs are everywhere and can be obtained with incredible ease and at a fraction of the cost of brand-name medication. However, this entirely unregulated industry presents significant risks related to quality, safety, and efficacy."<h2 id="538abdcc-03f9-459d-8b0f-54139cf4de87">It could take years for prices to drop</h2>Political pressure on pharmaceutical companies may move the needle when it comes to drug prices, according to Ted Kyle, a health professional with decades of experience in policy, marketing, and obesity care."It's going to be really messy but five years from now, prices will more reasonable, access much better, and more people will be getting care with a whole lot less blame and shame," Kyle told Business Insider.The competitive pressure will also help drive prices lower as companies aim to attract consumers back to their brand with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eli-lilly-cut-price-zepbound-tirzepatide-weight-loss-drug-copycats-2024-8">cheaper options for weight-loss drugs</a>.But McGowan said he isn't optimistic that the situation will improve for his patients in the near future."We can beg insurers to cover medication and plead with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices, but there simply isn't any incentive for them to do so right now," McGowan said.

A doctor shares how his patients are trying to afford weight-loss drugs — and what happens if they can't

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist who practices in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.</li><li>Among his patients, he's seeing election-related anxiety tied to the race between Harris and Trump.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Jonathan Alpert — a psychotherapist and the author of "<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow sponsored noindex" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=afb9de0b32a813f6a4eecbef6a8940e1b6914c933438b455c49db382adfc3df9&amp;postID=6709ba2ce5b540830054b5d5&amp;postSlug=shy-trump-voters-psychotherapist-jonathan-alpert-election-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBe-Fearless-Change-Your-Life%2Fdp%2F1546084851%2F">Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days</a>" — who is seeing an uptick in anxiety among his patients regarding the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battleground-states-2024-presidential-election-road-white-house-2022-12">2024 presidential election</a>. Alpert is licensed to practice in New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, so some of his patients live in hotly-contested communities in the Philadelphia and Erie areas. This year, he's hearing a range of concerns from his patients regarding both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. And even though Trump has been in the public eye as a politician for nearly a decade, Alpert said that some of patients remain "shy" Trump voters, or voters who are afraid to reveal that they're supporting the former president for myriad reasons.This essay has been edited for length and clarity.With this election there seems to be even more polarization than in years past, even more misinformation, and lots of uncertainty in our society. This uncertainty leads to instability and fear about the future, resulting in heightened anxiety over who is elected the next leader.Furthermore, previous election controversies are leading to a lingering sense of unease. Many people feel that the election could lead to significant social upheaval or regression. There's also a contagion effect that cannot be ignored. Social circles, family dynamics, and online communities have created tribalism and a subsequent division in our society leading to more widespread feelings of anxiety.<h2 id="67690859-3355-428e-b229-b68caa76911e">Some patients 'aren't happy' about Harris' ascension or Trump's candidacy</h2>Add into the mix the de facto nomination of Harris following [President] Joe Biden dropping out of the race. Many people, although they are Democrats, aren't happy about the way in which Harris became the nominee and have their reservations about voting for her. They talk to me about their lessening by the day confidence in her abilities to lead and are concerned about her lack of depth and substance when asked benign questions about her policies.As for Trump, a significant source of peoples' anxiety around him stems from disbelief that someone they view as a bully could gain such popularity. We're not taught that meanness is a path to success, yet Trump's divisiveness resonates with many, suggesting a hunger for change. Whether loved or hated, Trump gives voice to many who feel unheard. This is what worked for him in 2016 and what he is aiming for in 2024.<h2 id="23ef210d-549a-4de2-900a-86ff8ce1d2e7">'I'm seeing a lot of shy or closeted Trump voters'</h2>These are people who have positive feelings towards Trump and favor his policies over those of Harris yet are not comfortable coming out with their choice to friends, family, or romantic partners. I see this play out in the lives of many of my patients.For some, they talk about assumptions made by others about their political affiliation. One patient talked to me about how everyone in her cooking class just assumes she is a liberal and hates Trump. In fact, she is not a liberal and doesn't hate Trump. She supports him. She sits in silence as the rest of the class bitches about Trump.<div type="image" title="Trump Harris" height="5117" width="7676" msid="114257402" hostid="261" sizebytes="346668"></div>Another patient talked about how he can't discuss with friends his frustration about the student-loan forgiveness program that he feels he shouldn't support since he didn't go to college. Any attempt he makes at having a reasonable conversation about this is quickly shot down and he is labeled a "MAGA Republican." Truth is, he's a moderate Republican and works two jobs to make ends meet to support his family.There are many similar stories I've heard over the past few months. The result: These folks are overwhelmingly keeping quiet about their political beliefs and voting plans for the upcoming election and are closeted Trump supporters.<h2 id="564661d4-dab4-48e5-9c37-275d31b1c34f">What drives the 'shy' Trump voter phenomenon?</h2>For some, publicly supporting Trump could invite criticism or ostracism from friends, family, or colleagues who hold opposing views. These people fear judgment or social consequences, and this leads them to conceal their political beliefs.For many people, their political beliefs are often tied to personal identity. For closeted Trump supporters, maintaining a positive social image or protecting their personal and professional relationships can be a stronger motivator than expressing their true beliefs. People may feel torn between their personal beliefs and the need to conform to social norms or expectations.But by keeping political beliefs hidden, it can affect personal relationships. This secrecy can lead to a lack of genuine communication and potentially strain relationships with those who might be surprised or bothered if they discover their true beliefs later.<h2 id="89ab53cd-027a-4c98-a80f-b8de163bb9c2">A need to stop 'unhealthy thinking'</h2>My hope is that we can get to a place where Democrats and Republicans can be friends again and enjoy a dinner together despite their political differences. There was once a time when politicians duked it out in the halls of Congress but could leave it there.Many people yearn for the days of old such as when politicians like [ Sen.] John McCain and Biden — who had entirely different political ideas — were friends. People are longing for a time when being on different sides of the political aisle doesn't preclude you from being friends with someone. Demonizing someone just because they're from the opposing party is about as senseless and unhealthy as thinking "all white people are privileged" or "all cops are bad." Statements such as these only add to the poisonous well of unhealthy thinking and anxiety that is so abundant in our society.

I'm a psychotherapist who's seeing a spike in election-related anxiety among my patients. Some of them are secretly voting for Trump.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink's first patient, said he now calls his brain implant "Eve."</li><li>The Arizona resident became the first person to get Elon Musk's brain implant in January.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2">Neuralink's</a> first patient says he's given his brain-chip implant a name seven months after it was surgically implanted.Noland Arbaugh, who became <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-first-human-trial-patient-quadriplegic-elon-musk-x-2024-3">the first person to get the computer-controlling implant</a> developed by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk's</a> brain interface company, said Wednesday that he has named the device "Eve," and was working with it to improve himself in different ways.Arbaugh <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/ModdedQuad/status/1829029030408138995">wrote in a post on X</a> that he spends around four hours a day in session with staff at Neuralink, Monday through Friday, testing the implant. In his free time, he uses the device to read, study the Bible, and learn new languages."Currently, I'm learning French and Japanese for roughly three hours a day using a few different resources," he said."I also decided to relearn my math from the ground up in preparation for hopefully going back to school one day," Arbaugh added.Arbaugh, who is quadriplegic and was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-first-human-trial-patient-quadriplegic-elon-musk-x-2024-3">"freak diving accident</a> in 2016," received Neuralink's brain implant in January.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-implanted-second-brain-chip-how-works-2024-8">chip captures the brain's activity</a> and sends it to a computer via Bluetooth, allowing the user to control the movement of a computer cursor and surf the web, play video games, and design 3D models — for example — by visualizing these things happening. The surgery was initially successful, but in the following weeks, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-patient-cried-after-brain-chip-implant-malfunction-noland-arbaugh-2024-5">device began to malfunction</a> after several of its 64 threads, each thinner than a human hair, retracted away from his brain.Arbaugh <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-brain-chip-implant-first-human-patient-what-its-like-2024-5">previously told Business Insider</a> that the loss of functionality took an emotional toll on him. However, Neuralink <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-weighed-removing-patient-brain-chip-implant-after-malfunction-report-2024-5">wrote in a blog post in May</a> that it was able to fix the issue, and Arbaugh says his implant is now working as intended.Neuralink has ambitious plans for its brain chip, which it recently announced had been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://neuralink.com/blog/prime-study-progress-update-second-participant/">successfully implanted in a second patient</a>.Musk has said that the company aims to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1826409318578565326">implant the chip in thousands, potentially millions</a>, more patients within the next decade, and that it could eventually be used to control prosthetic limbs in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-create-luke-skywalker-solution-robotic-hands-ai-2023-9">"Luke Skywalker solution."</a>The billionaire has also described Neuralink's implant as crucial if <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1704541473830572515">humanity is to compete with superintelligent AI</a>, which he is also trying to develop at his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-fills-out-xai-former-tesla-staffers-after-layoffs-2024-6">AI startup xAI</a>.Now that the device's functionality has been fully restored, Arbaugh said he was keen to return to university and either finish his degree or switch to studying neuroscience as he "might have some insight [in]to the field at this point."The Arizona resident also has ambitions to publish his creative writing, start a charity, and build his parents a house one day."Ultimately, I'm having a blast and my life has improved so much in such a short time. It's hard to even put into words," Arbaugh said, signing off the post with "Noland &amp; Eve, a.k.a. P1."Neuralink did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Neuralink's first patient says he's named his brain implant device and is using it to learn French and Japanese

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests people on Ozempic or Wegovy may be more likely to suddenly go blind.</li><li>The condition, called NAION, is still exceedingly rare. It's also painless and untreatable.</li></ul>Eye doctors in Boston have started to notice a small but worrisome uptick in cases of a rare type of sudden blindness among patients taking semaglutide.They're raising questions about whether <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weight-loss-glp-1-drugs-ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-effects-future-2023-12">taking Ozempic</a> or Wegovy might be leading to more cases of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, a rare condition where blood stops flowing to the optic nerve, disturbing the connection between the eye and the brain. The issue typically surfaces suddenly, without pain, and results in people waking up in the morning unable to see out of one eye.The new investigation, published Wednesday in <a target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/2820255">JAMA Ophthalmology</a>, found that people taking semaglutide appeared slightly more likely to develop NAION than other patients with obesity or diabetes. (Semaglutide is the active ingredient in two Novo Nordisk drugs: Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for obesity.)<h2 id="b91a13b7-bd94-4dad-bb90-0967f248172b">Rare, and notable</h2>The number of patients on semaglutide who developed NAION was tiny: Out of more than 16,000 eye patients in Massachusetts included in this six-year retrospective investigation, only 37 people on semaglutide developed NAION. But that was still more than four times as many eye problems as those experienced by similar patients who were not on the drugs over the same time period. Only nine people with diabetes or obesity who were not on semaglutide developed NAION, the researchers said."This is information we did not have before and it should be included in discussions between patients and their doctors, especially if patients have other known optic nerve problems like glaucoma, or if there is preexisting significant visual loss from other causes," Dr. Joseph Rizzo, the study's lead author, the director of the neuro-ophthalmology service at Mass Eye and Ear, and a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release."The use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialized countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk," he added.<h2 id="ccfda629-d337-4f54-a6e5-05117369efbf">Pushback from Novo Nordisk</h2>In a statement sent to Business Insider, the semaglutide maker Novo Nordisk said: "Patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk, and we take all reports about adverse events from the use of our medicines very seriously."But the drugmaker raised concerns about the ways this study was conducted, saying there were too few cases in the trial to draw meaningful conclusions and that this type of backward-looking study could never answer questions about a causal link between semaglutide and NAION."NAION is not an adverse drug reaction for the marketed formulations of semaglutide," the company said.Patients with diabetes and high blood pressure have always been at an increased risk of developing eyesight issues. For example, having chronically high blood sugar can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/for-diabetics-blurry-vision-is-cause-for-concern">distort your eye lenses</a>, contributing to blurry vision. (Novo Nordisk is working on another, separate study, <a target="_blank" href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03811561">testing</a> whether semaglutide might be useful in treating diabetic retinopathy.) NAION is usually permanent, and there is no treatment for it.

You Searched For "patient" and got 9 results

Longevity doctors are scrambling to get patients to stop taking flashy, expensive supplements

Hilary Brueck

$3 billion startup Sword Health cuts some physical therapists as it ramps up AI to treat more patients

Rebecca Torrence

Doctor protests disrupt services, patients face long delays, auto and cab drivers on strike as well

ANI

Neuralink implants its brain chip in second patient, Elon Musk says it is working very well

Divyanshi Sharma

CCDC study reveals multi-pronged diabetes care improves patient outcomes in India, Pakistan

ANI

A doctor shares how his patients are trying to afford weight-loss drugs — and what happens if they can't

Gabby Landsverk

I'm a psychotherapist who's seeing a spike in election-related anxiety among my patients. Some of them are secretly voting for Trump.

John L. Dorman

Neuralink's first patient says he's named his brain implant device and is using it to learn French and Japanese

Tom Carter

Patients on Ozempic are developing a rare form of sudden blindness, doctors say

Hilary Brueck

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides