The Scan by 2 Minute Medicine®: Versatile Ozempic, Healthcare Reform, Unlocking the Brain, and Chickens and the Next Pandemic:

The Scan by 2 Minute Medicine® is a pop-culture medical newsletter and exclusive benefit for 2 Minute Medicine Plus subscribers.

We begin with a discussion about Ozempic’s potential in treating alcohol use disorder. Then we take a closer look at how President-Elect Trump’s next term might affect healthcare.. After that, we examine a new therapy for slowing Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, we discuss the resurgence of the avian flu.

Versatile Ozempic:

The Story: Ozempic and Victoza, drugs used to treat diabetes and help people lose weight, have been found to be associated with decreased incidences of alcohol- and substance-use disorder-related hospitalizations.

So, what is Ozempic?

Ozempic and Victoza, or semaglutide and liraglutide, fall under the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP) agonist class of drugs. These medications stimulate the GLP-1 receptor to enhance insulin secretion, slow gastric emptying, and promote satiety. Ozempic and Victoza, among other GLP-1 agonists such as dulaglutide (Trulicity) and exenatide (Byetta), were initially designed to treat type 2 diabetes.

What is the relationship between Ozempic and alcohol use disorder?

A recently published article found that GLP-1 agonists show promise in reducing alcohol consumption and treating alcohol use disorder (AUD) and substance use disorder (SUD). The researchers looked at a large cohort of over 220,000 Swedish individuals with AUD and showed patients who took semaglutide or liraglutide had the lowest risk of hospitalization due to AUD or SUD. In fact, both drugs were associated with lower hospitalization risk than currently approved AUD pharmacotherapy. Researchers believe this is because GLP-1 agonists work on the part of the brain that regulates overeating, a pathway that overlaps with parts responsible for the development and maintenance of addiction.

Scientists are excited by these findings as there are only three medications approved to treat AUD, an illness that affects over 400 million people worldwide. Many more millions suffer from other forms of addiction. Liam Payne, an American singer, recently passed away after falling from a balcony; his blood work showed alcohol and other drugs. Matthew Perry and Mac Miller both passed away from drug-related causes. Ozempic and Victoza may become new weapons in the fight against addiction.

What else can Ozempic do?

Over 100 million adults in the United States have obesity, a condition linked with many chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Many of these people have used or are currently using GLP-1-class weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. A number of celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Osbourne, and Charles Barkley have tried these drugs, most with positive results. In fact, Ozempic may be even more versatile. Researchers are looking at its use in chronic kidney disease, polycystic ovarian disease, and even Alzheimer’s!

Healthcare Reform:

On November 6, 2024, Donald Trump became the 47th President of the United States, becoming only the second president to regain office after losing it. On January 20, 2025, Trump will take office on Inauguration Day and inherit a healthcare system that costs $4.5 trillion (17.3% of total gross domestic product) or $13,493 per person, more than 50% more per capita than the second biggest spender. Despite this, The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group, ranked the U.S. last out of ten high-income countries. The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy, the highest infant mortality rate, and the highest levels of inaccessibility and equity.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the second-largest professional services network in the world, says Trump’s healthcare initiatives will focus on four things: deregulation, flexibility/choice, accessibility, and national security. The new administration is expected to reduce federal oversight to foster competition and innovation, improve chronic disease prevention and management, change reproductive healthcare, and impose Medicaid requirements, among others. 

On Nov. 21, Trump selected Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency that provides health insurance coverage for over 150 million Americans. During a presidential debate, President-Elect Trump also mentioned he wants to develop something better and cheaper than the Affordable Care Act. 350 million Americans are hoping for it.

Unlocking the Brain:

At the 17th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease Conference in Madrid, Spain, Sinaptica Therapeutics, Inc. unveiled results of a phase II randomized, double-blind, 52-week trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for slowing down AD. The researchers delivered patient-tailored rTMS based on their electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to target the Default Mode Network (DMN), a neural network responsible for memory and the primary one affected in AD. In the 32 patients who completed the trial, rTMS slowed AD progression by 44% and significantly improved scores on various cognition scales such as the AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, Mini-Mental State Examination, and Neuropsychiatric Inventory.

There are over 55 million people worldwide living with dementia, the seventh leading cause of death globally. Dementia is a disease that doesn’t discriminate; Bruce Willis and Robin Williams, American actors, Sugar Ray Robinson, an American boxer, and those close to us have battled, are battling, or battle dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 70-80% of all cases. Researchers have identified familial causes, although AD is a multifactorial condition associated with risk factors such as age, low socioeconomic status, obesity, diabetes, and traumatic brain injuries. It is characterized by the accumulation of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that cause progressive neurodegeneration. People with AD have worsening memory, cognition, temporal and spatial disorientation, and executive decision-making. The researchers behind these findings hope to launch a larger randomized trial in 2025. While a curative therapy for AD remains elusive, rTMS may delay symptom progression and help those with AD remain independent for as long as possible.

Chickens and the Next Pandemic:

Recently, a Canadian teenager, Canada’s first case of a locally acquired H5N1 infection, was hospitalized for respiratory distress and was in critical condition. They originally presented with conjunctivitis, fever, and a cough – typical flu symptoms – but rapidly deteriorated over the next few days. 

At over 33 billion, the global chicken population vastly outnumbers us. From chicken wings to eggs to improving farming conditions, chickens are essential for our diets and agricultural practices. Farmers take the bird flu seriously, killing over half a billion farmed birds to prevent its spread. However, the illness is also extremely deadly in humans. From 2003 to July 2023, the World Health Organization documented 898 cases of avian flu H5N1, the most common subtype that spreads to humans, and 458 deaths (fatality rate of 52.16%).

Is this the next pandemic? Bird flu typically spreads to humans through contact with sick birds. Mammal-to-human transmission is rare and human-to-human transmission has only ever been recorded a few times in history. However, experts are concerned with recent H5N1 developments. From cows to cats to pigs, more and more mammals have become infected. In September 2024, the US confirmed the first case of infection in a patient with no immediate exposure. Researchers think the Canadian teenager may have an H5N1 variant that increases disease severity in humans. It was only 5 years ago that COVID-19 changed the world. With those lessons in mind, health officials are encouraging the government to increase testing and improve tracing capabilities.

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