A new way to find out which weight loss drug is best for you

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A genetic test promises to help find the right weight loss drug for the right person By Alice Park Senior Health Correspondent As popular as the new class of weight loss drugs are, the reality is that not everyone will benefit from them equally. But determining who will lose more weight on the drugs and who is better off with older medications has mostly been a guessing game, obesity experts told me. They’re excited about a new gene-based test that they can prescribe, developed by researchers at Mayo Clinic, that categorizes people into four obesity groups, depending on what factors contribute most to their obesity. And that in turn can help doctors decide which obesity drugs to prescribe, since the medications work on different aspects of weight gain. The test, available through a company the Mayo researchers created called Phenomix, also comes with a diet and exercise plan. Here are the four types of obesity the test can identify; the test currently provides results about the first two: Hungry Gut: People who eat until they are full but get hungry again shortly afterward. This group can benefit most from the newest drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Rybelsus. Hungry Brain: People who never feel full. Emotional Hungry: People who eat to reward themselves or cope with emotional issues rather than based on physiological hunger. Slow Burn: People whose metabolism makes it difficult for them to burn calories efficiently. READ MORE A PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Health Matters newsletter team will be off next Mon. and Tues. for the July 4 holiday weekend. We'll be back with you on Wed. July 5. Share This Story

What Else to Read American Health Care Faces a Staffing Crisis And It’s Affecting Care By Robert Glatter, Peter Papadakos, and Yash Shah Urgent solutions are needed to improve staffing across America. Read More » Southeast Asia's Most Gay-Friendly Country Still Has No Law Against LGBT Discrimination By Chad de Guzman / Quezon City, Philippines An anti-discrimination law in the Philippines has been blocked for more than two decades. Read More » Meta Parental Controls Could Put Vulnerable Teens at Risk, Experts Warn By Simmone Shah Experts say the tools, aimed at providing more oversight for teenagers, could be a risk for some who see online communities as a lifeline.   Read More » Single at 40? Blame the Economy By Belinda Luscombe Why more 40-year-olds than ever have never been married. Read More » The Intersex Community Is Fighting for Every Body By Alicia Roth Weigel The intersex community's demands have been warped by politicians. It's time to set the record straight, writes Alicia Roth Weigel. Read More »

ONE MORE READ Even in the case of psychedelic therapy, no one wants to be part of a club that would actually have them STAT News's Olivia Goldhill reports from last weekend's epic Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies conference held in Denver, where MAPS founder Rick Doblin and his colleagues simultaneously were taking a sort of victory lap—the movement he's led to bring MDMA into mainstream medicine is on the verge of attaining its goal—and, as Goldhill puts it, "wrestling with its identity: Is it still primarily the activist organization of its roots, or has it become part of the establishment it once challenged?" Read More »

If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here. Today's newsletter was written by Alice Park, and edited by Elijah Wolfson.

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