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Use of Wegovy and other weight-loss drugs soars among kids and young adults

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Use of Wegovy and other weight-loss drugs soars among kids and young adults

At 17, Israel McKenzie was so burdened by obesity that he stopped going to high school in person and was embarrassed to speak to people at his restaurant job.

“I was in a really dark place,” says McKenzie, whose weight had climbed to 335 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame, despite repeated efforts to diet and exercise. “I had given up hope.”

But last year, the weight-loss drug Wegovy helped him shed 110 pounds in nine months, making the rural Tennessee teen part of a surge of adolescents and young adults using diabetes and obesity medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, new research shows.

Even as millions of older adults clamor for drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, monthly use of the medications soared in people aged 12 to 25. That’s according to the new analysis of dispensing records from nearly 94% of U.S. retail pharmacies from 2020 to 2023.

The report, published in the journal JAMA on Wednesday, used the IQVIA prescription database to compile the first look at the national uptake of GLP-1 drugs among that age group. Nearly 31,000 children aged 12 to 17 and more than 162,000 people aged 18 to 25 used the medications in 2023 alone, said Dr. Joyce Lee, a University of Michigan pediatrician and diabetes expert who led the research.

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“What it’s suggesting is that it’s one of the tools in the toolbox and there are more providers prescribing this medication for the population,” she said.

The report shows that the number of 12- to 25-year-olds using any GLP-1 drug — including older medications first approved to treat diabetes in 2005 and for weight loss in 2014 — climbed from about 8,700 a month in 2020 to more than 60,000 a month in 2023, a nearly 600% increase. The rise occurred even as prescriptions of other drugs among those patients fell by about 3%.

Those who received the drugs were just a fraction of young people who struggle with obesity, Lee noted. About 20% of U.S. children and adolescents and about 42% of adults have the chronic disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In early 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children and teens with obesity be evaluated early and treated aggressively, including with surgery and medication if warranted.

McKenzie, the Tennessee teen, said he began gaining weight five years ago, during puberty.

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“I started turning to food for all of my problems,” he said.

The extra weight made his asthma worse and put him in danger of developing diabetes, his doctor said. He tried to follow medical advice by cutting out sugary soda and snack foods and exercising more, but the efforts failed to make a difference.

“My old doctor told me there was nothing he could do,” he said. “He told me it was my fault.”

In early 2023, McKenzie connected with Dr. Joani Jack, a pediatric obesity specialist at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who regularly prescribes GLP-1 drugs for kids.

“I told him I’ve seen 10 other people just like you today and we have lots of tools and treatment options,” Jack said. Those typically include intensive behavioral and nutrition interventions combined with medication, if necessary.

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In McKenzie’s case, Jack prescribed the weight-loss drug Wegovy, which in late 2022 was approved for use in U.S. children over age 12. More than 6,000 kids in that age group received Wegovy in 2023, the new data show. More than 7,600 received Ozempic, which is approved to treat diabetes in adults, but can be used off-label in adolescents. Others received older GLP-1 drugs such as Saxenda and Trulicity.

McKenzie said he had no notable side effects from the medication, but Lee noted that some young people report nausea, vomiting or constipation, including symptoms so serious that they stop the drugs.

It’s important to understand the surging use of these medications in young people, Lee said. The drugs are meant for continuing use, so “we really need to think about the long-term safety and effectiveness of these medications for this population,” she said.

In addition, the drugs are expensive and often difficult to obtain, either because of supply problems or because they’re not covered by insurance.

Notably, government-run Medicaid plans paid for nearly half of the GLP-1 drugs prescribed to 12- to 17-year-olds and about a quarter of those used by people aged 18 to 25, the research found. Commercial insurance covered care for nearly 44% of the younger kids and about two-thirds of those who were older.

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Today, McKenzie says his asthma is better and he looks forward to interacting with co-workers and friends.

“I have a lot of self-confidence now, a lot more than I used to,” he said. “It has changed everything.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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NBC Orders More Episodes of New Fall Comedy St. Denis Medical

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NBC Orders More Episodes of New Fall Comedy St. Denis Medical


‘St. Denis Medical’ Season 1 Episode Count NBC, More Episodes Order



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Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

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Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

An American tourist who died after being electrocuted in a hot tub while vacationing with his wife in Mexico is now being remembered as a “real big family man” who had a “heart of gold.” 

Jorge Guillen, a 43-year-old from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports, died June 11 “in the jacuzzi of a complex of private condominiums in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora after an electric discharge,” Mexican prosecutors say. His wife, Lizette Zambrano, 35, remains in critical condition after reportedly being transferred to an American hospital. 

“Our best friends have experienced a horrible accident. Jorge had a heart of gold and was always there for family and friends. The love they shared was one for ages,” reads a GoFundMe page set up for the couple. 

Video purportedly taken from the scene showed people screaming as they gathered around a beachfront hot tub following the incident. In the footage, a dark object could be seen bobbing around in the water. 

MAN KILLED AFTER GETTING ELECTROCUTED IN SEASIDE RESORT JACUZZI 

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Jorge Guillen and Lizette Zambrano are from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports. (GoFundMe)

Western Technical College – where Guillen was a student – held a moment of silence in honor of him Friday during a graduation ceremony, according to KFOX14/CBS4. 

“Those who knew George knew that he was enthusiastic. He was passionate. He loved HVAC. He was a real big family man. Definitely a very respectable, professional young man,” the trade school’s president, Maxine Valencia, said to the station. 

“We are just as saddened as the rest of the world about the passing of our beloved student, Jorge Guillen. The news reached us last night through one of Jorge’s classmates,” the school also wrote on Facebook. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the family of his wife, Lizzette Zambrano, who remains in critical condition.” 

MEXICAN AUTHORITIES FIND BODIES OF 4 MEN, 2 WOMEN PILED UP IN RESORT CITY 

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Puerto-Penasco-Mexico

This September 2018 photo shows a beach at Puerto Peñasco in the state of Sonora, Mexico. (AP Photo/Annika Wolters)

Zambrano is described by the El Paso Times as being a former teacher in the Ysleta Independent School District. 

During the investigation, Mexican officials spoke with someone who is familiar with the couple, who said she saw the two of them were not moving in the jacuzzi. 

The witness also reportedly told investigators she attempted to get into the jacuzzi after discovering the couple was non-responsive, but she was shocked. 

Puerto-Penasco-Sign

Prosecutors in Mexico have launched an investigation into the death of Guillen and the injury of Zambrano in Puerto Peñasco. (PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

 

The witness told investigators that was the moment she called for help. 

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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

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Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

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Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

Anti-racism groups joined French unions and a new left-wing coalition in protests across France against the surging nationalist far right as frenzied campaigning is under way in advance of snap parliamentary elections.

About 21,000 police and gendarmes were deployed at rallies on Saturday with authorities expecting between 300,000 and 500,000 protesters nationwide, France’s interior ministry said.

In Paris, those who feared the elections would produce France’s first far-right government since World War II gathered at Place de la Republique before marching.

Crowds have been gathering daily in France, ever since the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) made historic gains in the European Parliament elections last Sunday. This prompted Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call for a snap legislative election, to be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

A large crowd turned out in spite of rainy and windy weather on Saturday holding placards reading “Liberty for all, Equality for all and Fraternity with all” – a reference to France’s national motto – as well as “Let’s break frontiers, documents for all, no to the immigration bill.”

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Speaking from Place de Republique, hard-left CGT union leader Sophie Binet told reporters, “We are marching because we are extremely worried [RN’s leader] Jordan Bardella could become the next prime minister … We want to prevent this disaster.”

Demonstrators march with placards during an anti-far right rally in Nantes [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

‘Ideology based on fear’

Among the protesters in Paris, some also chanted “Free Palestine, viva Palestina,” and wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Among them was Nour Cekar, a 16-year-old high school student, who has French and Algerian parents and wears the hijab.

“To me, the extreme right is a danger because it supports an ideology based on the fear of the other, whereas we are all French citizens despite our differences,” she said.

Cekar added she will vote for the left-wing coalition because “it is the only political [entity] that addresses racism and Islamophobia.”

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Meanwhile, in the French Riviera city of Nice, demonstrators marched down Jean Medecin Avenue, the city’s main shopping street, chanting against the National Rally and its leader Bardella, 28, as well as President Emmanuel Macron.

Protest organisers said 3,000 took part, while police put the number at 2,500.

Nice is traditionally a conservative stronghold, but has, over the past decade, turned firmly in favour of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and her far-right rival Eric Zemmour.

Nacira Guenif, a sociologist at University Paris 8, called the rise of the far right a “very dangerous situation”, and said many young people who attended rallies on Saturday denounced “the fascists”.

“This is a greater danger than ever. This is the first time where the far right rose to 30 percent of the vote in the European elections. The reason the youth and a lot of people were on the streets today is to say they don’t want this to happen in France,” Guenif told Al Jazeera.

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Demonstrators march in Nantes on Saturday [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

Huge gamble for Macron

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler noted the French president’s call of the election took everybody, including his own ministers, by surprise.

“Macron says he called this election because he has heard the voice of the people, of the voters. He said he’s seen the EU election that took place and saw that people are unhappy with his policies in this government. Therefore, he says he’s given the choice back to the people.”

The move is a huge gamble, she said. “People are here to say they fear the far right that would destroy France’s values of rights, liberty, freedom and equality.”

To prevent the National Rally party from winning the upcoming elections, left-wing parties finally agreed on Friday to set aside differences over the wars on Gaza and Ukraine and form a coalition. They urged French citizens to defeat the far right.

French opinion polls suggest the National Rally is expected to be ahead in the first round of the parliamentary elections. The party came out on top in the European elections last week, garnering more than 30 percent of the vote cast in France, almost twice as many votes as Macron’s party Renaissance.

Macron’s term is still on for three more years, and he would retain control over foreign affairs and defence regardless of the result. But his presidency would be weakened if the National Rally wins, which could put Bardella on track to become the next prime minister, with authority over domestic and economic affairs.

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French voters go to the polls first on June 30 and again July 7.

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