Gut Shot

If you’re anything like me, when your mind boggles, your stomach gurgles. That’s why, when I’m suffering from anxiety, I’m just as likely to reach for the Imodium as the Xanax. The connection between your brain and body can often be felt in your gut. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that GLP-1 drugs are having a major impact on your head, your habits, your hunger, and your general health. These drugs were introduced as a tool to help control blood sugar. We then learned they could also lead to major weight loss. Needless to say, that made these drugs popular, placing millions of humans into one of history’s largest petri dishes. “Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs were initially understood as a metabolism breakthrough: medicines that act like hormones to control hunger, blood sugar and weight. But as researchers probe deeper into how the drugs work, early evidence suggests that GLP-1s may also be reshaping parts of the brain. Tens of millions of people are now taking the medications worldwide, turning what began as an obesity and diabetes treatment into what could be modern medicine’s largest unplanned neuroscience experiments.” WaPo (Gift Article): Ozempic may be reshaping the brain, scientists say. (Alt link.) This grand experiment has led to many unexpected health benefits and will lead to many discoveries. Of course, there are also risks. “If GLP-1s alter the brain systems involved in reward, craving and motivation, researchers wonder, where is the line between quieting a person’s destructive impulses and reshaping personality itself?” (I’ve been on one of these drugs for high blood sugar for quite a while. My wife and kids report no luck when it comes to personality reshaping.) One benefit of our experience with these drugs is that we may finally drop the habit of telling sick people that an illness is all in your mind. Of course it is, because the brain is part of the body. I’ve always believed in a strong mind/body connection. It’s called the neck.