The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey

Hype or Hope? Semaglutide Changes the Weight Game – Dr. Robert Kushner : 896

Jan 26, 2022

Dr. Robert Kushner, an expert in weight management and the Medical Director at Northwestern Medicine, shares insights on the remarkable weight loss drug semaglutide. He explains how this medication mimics a natural hormone to reduce appetite and enhance feelings of fullness. The discussion dives into the implications of obesity as a disease, compares semaglutide with older weight-loss drugs, and emphasizes the importance of combining medication with lifestyle changes. Kushner also addresses the financial barriers to accessing obesity treatment.

01:01:43

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Episode guests

Robert F. Kushner

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Episode notes

Intro

2min

Understanding Obesity and Mortality

12min

Semaglutide and Weight Management: A Deeper Dive

12min

Exploring Weight Loss Strategies and Quantum Biology

4min

GLP-1 Drugs and Diet: Exploring Interactions

7min

Navigating Obesity: Personalized Approaches to Weight Management

21min

The Cost of Obesity Medicine

5min

Gratitude and Resources for Health Improvement

2min

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IN THIS EPISODE OF THE HUMAN UPGRADE™...

…you’ll learn about semaglutide, a new weight loss drug that’s been getting a lot of attention.

Highly respected obesity expert Dr. Robert F. Kushner joins the show to talk about new research findings. He was part of a team that published semaglutide study results in the New England Journal of Medicine this past year. Looking into semaglutide, typically used for Type 2 Diabetes, showed that it also reduced body weight.

We talk about how you might use semaglutide, both from an aging perspective and from a weight loss perspective. You look at risk reward for everything you can do, and then you decide what's going to work best for you. There's some interesting knowledge to be gained from the research on semaglutide.

Here’s the short version of how it works: “Semaglutide mimics our naturally occurring hormone called GLP-1,” explains Dr. Kushner. “When you give it back to a person in pharmacologic doses or high doses, but it mimics what we normally have, it augments or highlights this feeling of, "You know what, I am really not as hungry as I was before. I'm more full than I was before, so I don't need as much food." It's actually the change in appetite that causes a weight loss that we see with this kind of a drug.”

A clinician, educator and researcher, Dr. Kushner has spent his decades-long career on adult weight management for adults. Board certified in both internal medicine and nutrition, he maintains a medical practice, teaches students and medical professionals, and presents around the world. He’s written more than 250 original articles, as well as reviews, books and medical book chapters.

He’s Medical Director of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago; a professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and a professor of Medical Education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

This episode’s conversation includes the role of lifestyle in weight management. It’s shortsighted to view semaglutide as a wonder drug isolated from diet, exercise and even mental health. It’s all related. And new understanding of obesity as a disease and its biological drivers helps the search for lasting solutions, including training for healthcare professionals.

Listen on to find out more about semaglutide and six factors that might be causing your weight gain or making it difficult for you to lose weight.

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