Health
New weight-loss shot shows major fat reduction, but experts urge caution
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An experimental medication was shown to help boost weight loss by up to 20%, a study found.
Eloralintide, a once-weekly injectable manufactured by Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, led to “meaningful, dose-dependent weight loss” in adults who were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes, according to a press release.
The drug was generally well-tolerated by the study participants.
An experimental medication was shown to help boost weight loss by up to 20%, a study found. (iStock)
The Phase 2 trial, which was funded by Eli Lilly, included 263 adults. After 48 weeks, they had lost between 9.5% and 20.1% of their body weight, compared to 0.4% for those taking the placebo.
Treatment with eloralintide was also linked to improvements in waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profiles, glycemic control and markers of inflammation, all of which can increase cardiometabolic risk, according to the researchers.
WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS COULD ADD YEARS TO AMERICANS’ LIVES, RESEARCHERS PROJECT
“The weight loss we saw in the study is clinically impactful,” lead study author Liana K. Billings, M.D., director of clinical and genetics research in diabetes and cardiometabolic disease at Endeavor Health in Skokie, Illinois, said in the press release.
“With this degree of weight loss in only 48 weeks, we see people having improvement or resolution in other conditions like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and more weight-related conditions.”
Eloralintide, a once-weekly injectable manufactured by Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, led to “meaningful, dose-dependent weight loss” in adults who were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes. (Getty Images)
“Furthermore, in the study, we did not see a nadir or plateau of weight loss, so I would expect weight loss to continue if the study continued for a longer duration. Additionally, up to 90% of participants on eloralintide improved by at least one BMI category,” she added.
The results were published in The Lancet and presented at ObesityWeek 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month.
AMERICA’S FATTEST STATES REVEALED — AND HOW OZEMPIC IS CHANGING THE MAP
While popular GLP-1 drugs — including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound — work by mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), eloralintide is a selective amylin receptor agonist that works by mimicking a pancreas hormone called amylin.
Similar to GLP-1s, it helps to slow digestion, reduce appetite and control blood sugar after meals. It has not yet been FDA-approved for clinical use.
While GLP-1 drugs work by mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1, eloralintide is a selective amylin receptor agonist that works by mimicking a pancreas hormone called amylin. (iStock)
The biggest side effects noted for eloralintide were mild to moderate gastrointestinal symptoms and fatigue, the researchers noted. These effects were greater at higher doses.
“Obesity is a complex condition, and no single treatment works for everyone,” said Billings.
“To truly address each patient’s needs, we need therapies with different mechanisms of action so that each person can receive the treatment that offers the best balance of effectiveness and tolerability for them.”
COULD GLP-1 WEIGHT-LOSS MEDICATIONS LIKE OZEMPIC BECOME THE ‘EVERYTHING DRUG’?
Based on the trial results, the reseachers plan to launch Phase 3 clinical studies for obesity treatment by the end of this year, the president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health confirmed to Fox News Digital. The drug is also being evaluated for use in combination with GLP-1 medications.
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, shared some concerns about the new anti-obesity agents being developed.
“Bottom line: If an individual has an experienced and competent physician supervising their care — and driving the formation of healthy habits in addition to simply using the medication — they will lose weight,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Between all the agents out there, there is no way any person cannot lose weight when coupled with progressive resistance training and attention to their daily macronutrient intake, even if only a little,” the doctor, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“Yet big pharma will continue to search for novel targets to introduce a new drug that will likely prove similarly, yet not more, efficacious than the current agents. There are enough agents out there to drive weight loss to a malnutrition status.”
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Osborn also noted that the lower cardiovascular risk associated with the drug was likely due to the participants losing body fat, which reduces the risk for all age-related diseases.
“Some side effects are rare or take time to show up, so it is important to monitor new drugs like eloralintide for safety over the long term.”
“Bottom line: If an individual has an experienced and competent physician supervising their care — and driving the formation of healthy habits in addition to simply using the medication — they will lose weight,” he said.
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Sue Decotiis, M.D., a medical weight-loss doctor in New York City, also shared her thoughts on eloralintide’s potential as an alternative treatment.
“It seems that the more receptor systems that are influenced, the more weight a patient can lose,” she told Fox News Digital. “This is why tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), which hits two receptors, induced more weight loss than Ozempic and Wegovy.”
“To truly address each patient’s needs, we need therapies with different mechanisms of action so that each person can receive the treatment that offers the best balance of effectiveness and tolerability for them,” a researcher said. (iStock)
“In my practice, I witnessed significantly better results with tirzepatide when patients were switched from Ozempic.”
Hitting more receptors may be the answer for those patients who do not respond well or who “hit the wall” with simpler drugs, according to Decotiis, who also was not involved in the study.
“For long-term safety and results, peptide drugs show promise,” she said.
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Whitney Di Bona, in-house attorney and consumer safety advocate for Drugwatch, noted that while the Phase 2 results are “promising,” it is important to be cautious.
“These drugs have been used for years, but new safety concerns keep appearing,” the Florida-based expert told Fox News Digital. Some of those include a potentially serious eye condition, delayed stomach emptying, bowel obstruction and serious digestive problems, which have led to many lawsuits.
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“Some side effects are rare or take time to show up, so it is important to monitor new drugs like eloralintide for safety over the long term,” Di Bona advised. “Even with careful studies, some risks may only become clear after the drug is used by many people.”
Ants can be a nuisance. Just ask officials at a hospital in Canada who are dealing with an “appearance of ants within the operating room” that has forced them to indefinitely suspend some surgeries there.
The ants appeared recently at Carman Memorial Hospital in Carman Manitoba, according to a statement from Southern Health-Santé Sud, the provincial authority that oversees the hospital.
It was not clear when the hospital would resume operations, but Southern Health said on Friday that a “limited number of elective surgeries” had been postponed and that the hospital was working with patients to reschedule them. Portage Online, a local news website, reported that 16 operations had been postponed, citing information from Southern Health.
It’s not the first time ants have disrupted operations at the hospital. The insects appeared there in August 2024, but “the issue resolved within a few weeks,” Southern Health said. They returned last summer. But with their reappearance this week, the hospital said it was taking more drastic measures. The hospital serves the area around Carman, a town with a population of around 3,000 residents about 47 miles southwest of Winnipeg.
“Any factor that could impact the safety or integrity of the operating room environment requires the suspension of surgical activity until the issue can be resolved,” Southern Health said. “The safety of patients, staff and physicians is paramount.”
The hospital is working with exterminators “to identify the source of the ants and implement additional measures and support a long-term resolution.” Southern Health told Portage Online that exterminators had “surveyed and cleaned drains, opened walls and sealed cracks.”
“Several methods have been used to bait the ants in an effort to find where they are originating from,” the authority said.
In a separate statement to the CBC, Southern Health said that it believed that an ant colony had made its home near the hospital and that they appeared to be “simply seeking food sources inside buildings as ants are known to do.”
The hospital also told the CBC that the ant problem at the hospital did not amount to an “infestation.”
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The U.S. government is moving to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with plans to transport them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains extremely low as officials move forward with a medical repatriation flight for passengers aboard the M/V Hondius.
President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that the situation appears to be under control, pointing to the virus being difficult to transmit.
“We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well. They’ve worked with it for a long time. They know it very well. Not easy to pass on. So we hope that’s true,” he said.
DR MARC SIEGEL: HANTAVIRUS CRUISE OUTBREAK IS ALARMING BUT FEAR IS SPREADING FASTER THAN FACTS
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
“We seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It’s been around a long time. Not easily transferable, unlike COVID. But we’ll see. We have very good people studying it very closely.”
The outbreak has escalated over several weeks, beginning with a passenger who became sick in early April and later resulting in at least three deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Cases are now reported across multiple countries after passengers disembarked in Africa and Europe, prompting health officials to trace contacts globally.
Authorities in Cape Verde at one point blocked passengers from leaving the ship, underscoring concerns about containment.
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK TIMELINE HIGHLIGHTS KEY MOMENTS IN DEADLY CRUISE CRISIS
An ambulance evacuates patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship to the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, according to the CDC. While most strains do not spread between people, health officials say the Andes virus — identified in some cases linked to the cruise ship — is the only known strain capable of limited person-to-person transmission.
The vessel is expected to dock in Spain’s Canary Islands, where international teams are coordinating next steps for passengers and crew.
A CDC team has been deployed to the Canary Islands to assess potential exposure among American passengers and determine monitoring needs.
Returning passengers are expected to be flown on a U.S. government medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
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They will then be transported to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for further monitoring.
Additional CDC personnel will be stationed at Offutt Air Force Base to support health assessments.
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From tracking sleep and steps to monitoring heart rate, temperature and stress levels, wearable devices like smartwatches and rings are growing in popularity as wellness tools.
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade recently used one of these — an Oura ring — to track his metrics from the early morning hours through a demanding work schedule and reported the results live on “Fox & Friends.”
“I just got four hours and one minute [of sleep], but I have some REM sleep, 14%, over 20% of deep sleep. Feeling pretty good, I feel pretty fresh,” Kilmeade shared during his first early morning update, reviewing the stats from his ring.
HIDDEN SLEEP DANGER COULD INCREASE RISK OF 172 DISEASES, MAJOR STUDY REVEALS
Throughout the day, the wearable tracked his physiological responses to various environments, from the stress of a live television broadcast to the physical exertion of a workout.
Wearable devices are changing cardiology’s landscape, helping detect conditions like atrial fibrillation early, a cardiologist said. (iStock)
Kilmeade observed the data in real time, noting, “You see the stress level spike just a little bit … as I make my way over to radio, my activity is going to pick up.”
By the end of his day, which included a trip to West Point and hours spent in a car, the device provided a summary of Kilmeade’s activity levels and heart rate stability.
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Dr. Craig Basman, a New Jersey cardiologist, joined the program to interpret the data and discuss the clinical implications of such technology.
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Basman immediately addressed Kilmeade’s limited rest. “Well, I don’t think you have to be a cardiologist to diagnose him with suboptimal sleep,” he said.
The cardiologist urged users to treat the data as a catalyst for lifestyle changes. (iStock)
However, the doctor highlighted the broader potential of these tools, explaining that “these wearable devices are changing the landscape of cardiology” and that “the future is bright, not just for preventative care … but also screening and detection of actual cardiovascular pathology.”
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The cardiologist urged users to treat the data as a catalyst for lifestyle changes, noting that he wouldn’t recommend detection tools unless you’re “going to do something about it.”
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Regarding the accuracy of the technology, Basman said there is “robust data” to suggest that the numbers are “incredibly accurate” for a lot of the metrics people are viewing, specifically data like resting heart rate and heart rate variability.
Wearable health tech like watches and rings can track sleep, heart rate and stress. (iStock)
He also mentioned that some devices can detect serious conditions like atrial fibrillation, which affects millions and can often go undetected during a standard physical exam.
For younger individuals, wearables can serve as a “great primary prevention tool,” according to the doctor, given that plaque can begin to develop in the arteries as early as the 20s and 30s.
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For the older population, the devices act more as a “screening tool for actual existing cardiac pathology,” he added.
Anyone concerned about wearable health data should consult a doctor for medical guidance.
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