@WakeUpCall – Ozempic Brain

Amy talks with Dr. Joe Galati about whether Ozempic is altering the brain.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's say good morning now to doctor Joe Galotti. So,
doctor Golotti, we are hearing more and more that ozempic
and glps not only help you lose weight, but also
do other things for you, like they can reduce cravings
for alcohol even lower your chances of heart disease. But
is it is that because it's messing with our brains?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, Hey, Amy, good morning and happy Friday. You know well,
I think when the headlines are, you know, reshaping your
brain and things like that, I almost look at that
as a little bit of bait, click to get everybody excited.
But I've been doing that all the I know, I know,
it's it's it's how we operate here. But you know,

(00:44):
the GLP drugs have receptors in the gut, and that's
why you see the effects that it has with weight laws.
But there are GLP receptors in the brain and nervous system,
and so when you take these medications, different areas of
your brain get either stimulated or it get suppressed, and
it can affect mood, craving, anxiety, and so what we're

(01:09):
seeing not so much by mistake, but there are programmed
research studies that are going on in the opioid addiction space,
smoking alcohol, which is an area that I deal with.
And so it's promising that the GLP one agents. Yes,
we'll make you lose weight, get you bloot your ground

(01:30):
to control, but there are these effects on the neurologic system,
mood and emotion. Now again, how well this is going
to work, We don't know. Are there going to be
ill effects on the brain and personality possibly? We just
don't know. So this is not ready for prime time,
but I would tell everybody stay tuned. This is a

(01:50):
very exciting area in clinical research.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Well, it does seem that way, doctor Glatta, because it
just seems like as more information comes out, I mean,
as the you know, everybody's shrinking except me, Yeah, But
as more information comes out, they go, oh, here's another
thing that it can help with. Oh here's another thing
that they're seeing the side effects or effects of the golps.
Maybe it's just from losing the weight that you lower

(02:14):
your risk of heart disease, or maybe it actually helps
in another way. But it seems like they keep coming
up with these new benefits.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, you know, I think the key thing, at the
simplest level probably is that when you lose weight and
you get your diabetas the control, the inflammation in the
body goes down. And it's not just inflammation in your gut,
it's inflammation in your heart, your liver, and in your
brain and nervous system, and so a lot of these
spinoff research here. The understanding may be there is less

(02:47):
central nervous system inflammation, which allows these neural pathways and
brain hormones to work better. So it is is it's
shicken to the egg. We just don't know, But I
think we just have to proceed with caution. That would
be the best thing. The other thing is, you know,
nobody should really go to their doctor and say, look,

(03:09):
I want to get on ozempic because I want to
lose weight, but also I have a smoking problem, I
have a drinking problem. Let's take the windfall of this
and wrap it all together in one package. That's a
silly way to look at this right now.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Well, and then my other question is if people have
been known to put on the weight once they stop
taking ozempic, like they've said that the reversal is pretty quick,
So would that happen too with like say what you
just mentioned, craving for cigarettes or craving for alcohol. Would
that also come right back?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
I would think that it would be because basically, these
you know, neurologic impulses are being suppressed by the ozempic.
It's basically you're tapping the brakes on your drive to
drink or the satisfaction you're getting from drinking. As soon
as you take that away, you're back to status quo.

(04:05):
And I would think that this comes back. So again
it's you know, how do we deliver these medicines long term?
You know, is it a shot every week, is it
a shot every day? Is it a pill under your skin?
Who knows? But you're right that similar to the to
the weight loss and or the weight in when you stop,
these emotional effects are probably going to reverse once you

(04:27):
stop it as well. So you're you're getting hooked into
a treatment that maybe for a long time. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, and another question is is it good to be
on these drugs long term? What other kind of what
damage could they do? And I think it's just it's
probably too soon to tell for sure.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, it really is. And of course, whenever you're dealing
with the brain, and I think that with all the
research that's going on, trying to deal with brain research,
emotional research. It is so tough, but you can have
too much of a good thing. So if you are
taking one of these GLP ones and it sort of
taps down anxiety or craving, well there's certainly the potential

(05:08):
that you go too far and then you become completely
withdrawn and you become a zombie. And so it's that
sweet spot of what is just the right amount to
fix a particular symptom you have, And that's a great unknown.
And of course we don't want people to really, in
a sense overdose on these medications that have problems.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
All right, doctor Jocolatti, thanks so much for the information.
Of course we'll be watching it because so many people
are taking it and having success with it.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
We just need to be careful absolutely, Amy, you have
a great weekend.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Thank you, you too,