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The Other Hand
Wow! For once, some real good news: those weight loss drugs could be the real deal. And, potentially, even a bigger deal than even originally thought!
In conversation with professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College Dublin.
Novo Nordisk has become Europe's largest, most valuable, company on the back of some new weight-loss drugs.
Is the hype justified?
It's early days but the preliminary evidence is an emphatic yes!
There are familiar caveats: potential side effects and cost.
But these drugs do seem to work.
And not just for weight loss - this is where it gets more speculative/preliminary but there are hints that the drugs' effects on the brain could have some positive benefits for other types of addictions, not just those involving food.
Maybe we should just all buy the shares? (This is not an investing tipping podcast!!!)
Will the producers of ultra processed foods go the way of tobacco companies?
Could these drugs even help us survive Christmas (this really is at the highly speculative/no data end of the spectrum :))
Shane O'Mara | Professor of Experimental Brain Research | School of Psychology andInstitute of Neuroscience | Trinity College, Dublin - the University of Dublin, D02 PN40,Ireland
His new book: Talking Heads: The New Science of How Conversation Shapes Our Worlds
His newsletter: BrainPizza
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