A research team found "extensive changes" on brain scans of 13 young women taking GLP-1 drugs, reports the Washington Post: Within only a few months, the brain connections in the salience network, which helps target attention, had multiplied... ["We didn't expect to see this effect, and we really don't know what it means," said an assistant professor assisting the research.] 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... Long before Oprah Winfrey and social media influencers helped popularize GLP-1 drugs, physician-scientist Lorenzo Leggio was studying them as a possible addiction treatment... Several major studies examining GLP-1 drugs on nicotine dependence, opioid- and cocaine-use disorders, gambling addiction and binge eating are also underway. "It's very exciting times, but we don't fully understand how it works," Leggio said... As evidence has grown that inflammation, metabolism and mental health may be far more connected than scientists once believed, researchers have become intrigued by patients who say GLP-1 drugs appear to ease anxiety, compulsive thinking and emotional distress. Daniel Drucker, a University of Toronto researcher and GLP-1 drug pioneer who receives funding from several drugmakers, said researchers are investigating the medications across a variety of psychiatric and neurological conditions, though none are approved for them. "We have so many anecdotal reports: They were treated for blood sugar and then they felt much happier. Or they took one dose of the drug and their brain fog cleared," he said. The article suggests social media complaints "raise deeper questions about what, exactly, these drugs are changing. "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?"

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A new Oxford Longevity Project report argues that individuals bear at least 80% of the responsibility for ill health in old age. "The report (PDF), launched at the Smart Ageing Summit in Oxford last week, argues that individuals have far greater control over their longevity than is commonly understood," reports The Guardian. "The authors call on the government to take legislative action on alcohol comparable to restrictions on smoking." From the report: Living Longer, Better -- the Oxford Longevity Project's first Age-less report -- was co-authored by an interdisciplinary panel of UK-based experts in medicine, physiology, ageing and education policy. It was sponsored by Oxford Healthspan. The report's authors, Sir Christopher Ball, Sir Muir Gray, Dr Paul Ch'en, Leslie Kenny and Prof Denis Noble, present the figure of 80% as a conservative estimate. [...] The claim, however, has been described as simplistic and said to neglect wider arguments about whether people are genuinely in control of individual choices when it comes to issues including poverty, pollution and healthcare access. [...] Ball, however, pointed to research including the Landmark Twins Study, where researchers concluded at least 75% of human lifespan is determined by environmental and modifiable lifestyle factors. He also cited large-scale analysis led by Oxford Population Health using data from nearly 500,000 UK Biobank participants which found that environmental exposures and habits carry far greater weight in premature death and biological ageing than inherited genetics. The report's recommendations include avoiding processed foods, abstaining entirely from alcohol, prioritising sleep, not eating after 6.30pm, and cultivating what it calls "a not-meat mindset." On alcohol, it takes a position more forthright than current government guidance. "Alcohol is toxic, don't drink it," said Ball. "The report bravely says so -- whereas the government is afraid to tell the public the truth."

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