They have already stormed the weight loss sector-nu, the Blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro do the same for lymphedema, a lifelong, progressive swelling disorder that often follows cancer treatment.
An estimated 500,000 people live in the UK with the condition, where weapons or legs can swell to double their normal size, causing pain and limiting movement, due to a structure of liquid in the body’s tissues.
The condition can put patients who have difficulty dressing, putting on their shoes over swollen feet or to do daily chores, such as washing and wearing shopping. Twice as many women are affected as men and about one in five that survive breast cancer will develop.
But now is a groundbreaking clinical test in the US, in which 110 people with lymphedema are involved, to investigate whether regular injections of weight loss jabs can reduce swelling, improve mobility and restore their quality of life.
Once a week for six months, the participants in the study will inject themselves with semaglutide (the medicine used in Ozempic) or tirzepatide (used in Mounjaro) (file image)
Once a week for six months, the participants in the study will inject themselves with semaglutide (the drug used in Ozempic) or tirzepatide (used in Mounjaro), because researchers assess changes in the ledom size and liquid levels.
The study was set up at the Institute for Advanced Reconstruction in New Jersey, in the US, after a study last year-by-where nearly 4,000 breast cancer patients were operated on, including the removal of lymph nodes-bleek that those who took the weight loss had 86 percent less chance of developing Lymphedema.
The Jabs seemed to reduce the risk that it developed from about one in three patients to one in ten, the magazine limits reported in pharmacology.
The researchers said this can be up to various factors. A theory is that GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide also have anti-inflammatory effects that can prevent lymphedema from developing at a cellular level.
Lymph nodes are small bean -like structures, mainly found in the neck, armpits and groin, which filter toxins, bacteria and viruses from body fluids.
They are one of the first places where cancer cells migrate when the disease starts to spread.
And this is why some lymph nodes are often removed in women with breast cancer – to stop the potential spread of tumor cells.
Dr. Simon Vincent, Chief Scientific Officer at the Charity Breast Cancer Now
In other cases, the lymph nodes can be damaged by cancer treatments such as radiotherapy.
As a result, liquid that is normally flushed by the lymph nodes begins to accumulate in the arms and legs – causing severe swelling and sometimes serious infections such as cellulite (which influences the skin and tissues just below it).
About a third of patients with lymphedema develop repeated cellulite (at least once a year), which must be treated with antibiotics.
One in ten of those then develops life -threatening sepsis, where the immune system wrongly attacks the most important organs of the body, which causes potentially catastrophic organ failure.
There are no medicine treatments for lymphoedema. Standard care includes compression therapy-it wearing tight elastic items of clothing or multi-layered connections every day to try to physically squeeze the liquid out of tissues.
Ozempic and Mounjaro-E-if other weight loss medicines that are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists-works in weight loss by imitating the appetite-regulating hormones produced in the intestine.
But their effects go much further than the appetite, says Dr. Joseph Dayan, the reconstructive surgeon who leads the new test.
“There are GLP-1 receptors all over the body, also on the muscle walls of lymph ships,” he says.
He adds that GLP-1 receptors bind to these receptors and protect against damage caused by inflammation caused by the reaction of the immune system to disease, and the activity of immune cells that promote scars (which in turn blocks the fluid flow).
Dr. Dayan says that his ‘Lightbulb moment’ came before using the fat-busting Jabs when one of his breast cancer patients won 11 kg (24 pounds) during treatment and her mild lymphedema became serious.
“I thought losing weight might help, so I put her on Semaglutide – and the lymphedema evaporated,” he says.
Dr. Dayan personally finances the pilot study and has no financial interest in Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, the makers of Ozempic and Mounjaro respectively.
In a comment to the test, Dr. Simon Vincent, Chief Scientific Officer at the Breast Cancer of Charity Now, ‘This is a promising study that can unlock further knowledge about how GLP-1 drugs work and whether they have potential that go beyond their current use for diabetes and weight loss.
‘Some medical professionals have reported reductions in lymphedema symptoms when people use GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, so this study is a welcome step to collect reliable clinical evidence to show that this use is safe for people with breast cancer.
‘For those who get lymphedema, it can feel uncomfortable and reduce the quality of life.
‘Therapies such as massage and compression clothing can help, but it is unlikely that it will disappear completely. Finding friendly and effective treatments is a priority. ‘
#Unveiled #beautiful #Mounjaro #Ozempic #side #effects #benefit #thousands #chronically #ill #people