Good news for obese as scientists stumble upon a weight-loss drug!

If careful monitoring finds no major side-effect, the drugs could help humanity win its long and futile fight against flab. The new drug is generating excitement among the rich and the beautiful. A sudden surge in deaths due to heart attack post Covid pandemic has baffled clinicians, policymakers and the common men equally with experts still not sure if and how these deaths are correlated with Covid. Most recently, actress, model and the first winner of the Miss Universe pageant, Sushmita Sen, speaking on her Instagram page during a live chat session announced that she had a “massive heart attack” with 95% blockage in one of her main arteries. Amidst so much bad news around with celebrities making a beeline to gyms to shed weight to maintain a zero figure, there is some good news about scientists stumbling upon a weight-loss drug that actually seems to work. Or rather, a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, sold under brand names such as Wegovy and Ozempic. TikTok influencers and celebrities are obsessed with the injections for weight. Eventually, the beneficiaries will be billions of people whose excess weight has made them unhealthy. Obesity the culprit Obesity is no longer just a rich-country problem. By 2035 more than half the people on the planet will be overweight or obese, by one estimate. For now, the drugs are expensive, and their long-term effects are unknown. But competition—and bulk purchases by governments—will make them cheaper. And if careful monitoring finds no major side-effects, the drugs could help humanity win its long and hitherto futile fight against flab.  The new type of drug is generating excitement among the rich and the beautiful. Just a jab a week, and the weight falls off! Celebrities swears by it; influencers sing its praises on TikTok; suddenly slimmer celebrities deny they have taken it. But the latest weight-loss drugs are no mere cosmetic enhancements. Their biggest beneficiaries will be not celebrities alone but billions of ordinary people around the world whose weight has made them unhealthy. People, fed up with lugging huge frames around, have a history of heart diseases. As a result of Covid-19, many have become painfully aware of the risks the obesity entails. However, many find that efforts to lose weight through dieting and exercise had led them to nowhere.  Doctors suggest use of the injectable drug from Novo Nordisk, a Danish drug-maker, that is approved for type-2 diabetes but, as a fringe benefit, helps with weight loss, too. To start off, the price is heavy on pocket — about $1,000 a month — but may come down with increase in usage.