Slimming injection brand “Wegovy” is sold at Achat Pharmacy in Mitte. The slimming injection “Wegovy” has been available in Germany for a year.
Jens Kalin | Image Alliance | Getty Images
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Happy Thursday! New research showing additional health benefits of the weight loss drug Wegovy seems to emerge every week.
this time, Novo NordiskA popular treatment helped reduce knee pain in patients with a type of arthritis and obesity, according to research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study was funded by Novo Nordisk, which is conducting several studies into other potential therapeutic uses of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy.
The results of the 68-week trial could be a big deal for the Danish pharmaceutical company: It could pave the way for regulatory approval for semaglutide to treat osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that causes cartilage and bone in the joints to break down over time.
This would be another expansion of the accepted uses for the blockbuster drug.
It's the most common type of arthritis and affects about 33 million people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This condition is not a regular part of aging, but is common among adults 45 and older.
So, how is the condition related to obesity? The risk of developing this condition is four times higher in people with obesity, Dr. Henning Bledal, the study's lead author and director and research professor at the Parker Institute in Denmark, said in a statement.
Losing weight can help reduce symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, but sticking to these lifestyle changes can be difficult, Bledal said. There are also not many other effective treatments for this condition.
“There is a great need for non-surgical and sustainable treatment options for those suffering from obesity-related osteoporosis,” Bledal added.
Let's dive into more details about the trial.
It included approximately 400 patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis. The average age of the participants was 56 years, and nearly 80% of the group were women, who have osteoporosis at higher rates than men.
The subjects took either a weekly injection of semaglutide or a placebo for 68 weeks. Everyone also received guidance on how to maintain a low-calorie diet and incorporate exercise into their daily lives.
Patients with osteoarthritis who dieted, exercised, and took semaglutide lost more weight and reported a greater reduction in knee pain than those who lost weight with diet and exercise alone. By the end of the trial, people who took semaglutide lost nearly 14% of their body weight, or about 33 pounds, compared with just 3% among those who got a placebo.
Changes in body weight were also accompanied by a decrease in pain, which was measured using a specific index scored on a scale of 0 to 100. On average, patients began the trial with an average pain score of 70.9.
Those who took semaglutide reported a significant reduction in pain — an average reduction of about 42 points — while those who took placebo had an average reduction of 27.5 points.
But it is unclear whether semaglutide will have this benefit for all patients, such as those who are obese or overweight. Most people enrolled in the trial had a high BMI, so researchers will have to replicate the results in other populations.
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Medicare Advantage is now a battleground on two fronts
Private Medicare Advantage plans have become a major source of conflict between major insurers — and now they're fighting on two fronts.
First, they are fighting the government over stricter quality ratings that are creating profit headwinds at a time when plans are struggling with rising medical costs from their largest members.
This creates a second headache: a battle royale between the big MA players and the hospitals, where much of the high spending is incurred.
UnitedHealth is fighting on both fronts, suing the government over lowering star quality ratings on its plans, while simultaneously raising a red flag about hospitals that it says are “aggressively” uplifting patients and thus raising medical costs.
During their earnings calls, hospital operators Community Health, HCA and Tenet Health addressed what they described as “aggressive” denials from some payers.
Price negotiations are now so bitter that more hospitals are threatening to not accept Medicare Advantage plans from some carriers.
With more than half of seniors now enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans, this combative trend could create increasing disruption in their coverage.
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Cutting Edge Healthcare Technology: Change Healthcare breaches have affected at least 100 million Americans
UnitedHealth Group's Change Healthcare program broke a grim record last week: It officially suffered the largest healthcare data breach ever reported to federal regulators.
At least 100 million Americans were affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack, according to an updated figure posted on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights breach portal. The previous record was set by Anthem in 2015 when hackers compromised the data of 78.8 million patients.
That number is roughly in line with the estimate UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty shared with lawmakers in May, when he guessed that about a third of Americans were affected. The company began mailing written notices to affected individuals in late July.
Change Healthcare offers payment and revenue cycle management tools for medical providers and payers, as well as other solutions such as electronic prescription software. In February, UnitedHealth revealed that a cyber threat actor had compromised part of the company's IT network.
UnitedHealth disconnected the affected systems when the threat was discovered, and the disruption caused a ripple effect across the US healthcare sector. Many doctors were temporarily left without a way to fill prescriptions or get paid for their services, and some providers took thousands of dollars from their savings to keep their doors open.
In the months following the hack, UnitedHealth paid a $22 million ransom to the hackers, worked to bring systems back online and confirmed that files containing personal information had been compromised in the attack.
The exact type of data exposed in the breach varies from person to person, according to UnitedHealth's website. This means that it was possible to access a combination of patients' contact information, health insurance information, medical records, and billing and payment information.
UnitedHealth offers two years of free credit monitoring for identity theft protection to individuals who believe they have been affected. The company said that patients can contact a dedicated call center to inquire about these offers or speak with a doctor who can provide emotional support services.
Patients should also monitor any suspicious activity across their tax returns, explanation of benefits, and bank and credit card statements, according to UnitedHealth's website.
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