Ozempic Is Enlisted In the War on Aging

"For decades, scientists have been on the hunt for an antiaging drug. Now, some say we may have already found it.

A fast-growing body of research signals potential health benefits of GLP-1s, the class of diabetes and weight-loss drugs known by names like Ozempic, beyond what they were initially approved to treat. That includes age-related conditions like Alzheimer's, osteoarthritis, certain cancers and even mortality.

Doctors and researchers emphasize the need for larger, more rigorous long-term studies to confirm these preventive effects are causal, not just correlational.

Still, since Ozempic was approved in 2017, thousands of studies have been published examining the effects of GLP-1s. Last year, Wegovy won a new Food and Drug Administration approval to reduce the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, and Ozempic, was recently approved to help kidney-disease patients.

This accumulating body of research has led longevity clinics to market and prescribe GLP-1s as so-called gerotherapeutics -- drugs that can target certain biological hallmarks of aging.

Dr. Nir Barzilai, a physician-scientist who is president of the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research, reviewed a dozen FDA-approved drugs and drug classes with potential benefits to extend lifespan and so-called healthspan, or how long people live in good health. GLP-1s ranked in the top third.

Excess weight can trigger chronic low-grade inflammation, which has been linked to increased risk for a host of conditions from heart disease to dementia. "Obesity drives aging," says Barzilai.

The drugs work in part by suppressing appetite and making users feel fuller faster. Their weight-loss effect likely plays a big role in their potential preventive health benefits, health experts say -- but it is probably not the whole story.

An analysis of a large trial involving adults with heart disease revealed that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, provided cardiovascular benefits regardless of participants' initial weight or the amount of weight they lost.

This could suggest anti-inflammatory benefits, or show that people on these medications often eat healthier foods, not just less food, says John Deanfield, a professor of cardiology at University College London, who led the analysis.

"Part of the longevity issue is not just living longer, it's making sure that you avoid some of these diseases of aging as well," he says, adding that drugs like this will need to be tested for their ability to prolong life expectancy.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that among older patients with Type 2 diabetes, semaglutide was associated with a 40%-to-70% lower risk of an Alzheimer's diagnosis over three years than other diabetes medications.

The medication's power is that it works through various mechanisms, says Rong Xu, senior author and director of the university's Center for Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery: "It's like one stone, multiple birds."

Despite the promising data, doctors and researchers emphasize that many studies are in animals or are observational clinical trials in people with diabetes or other health conditions. More robust studies are needed in healthy people.

One drawback is that the medications can lead people to lose lean-muscle mass alongside fat, which is particularly detrimental for older adults already experiencing muscle loss, and for biohackers aiming for optimal health.

Alexander Boldizar, a 53-year-old writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, tried taking a version of semaglutide, hoping it would help lower one of his blood-sugar markers. But he stopped after noticing his average resting heart rate increased -- a known side effect of GLP-1s -- which he says led him to feel tired more quickly during his near-daily workouts. "I still consider exercise to be the single most important longevity intervention, which is why I kind of got scared off," he says. "My body fat is low enough that it's not really worth it."

Common side effects such as nausea and constipation, as well as the drugs' price tag, can also be deterrents. Dr. Predrag Pavlovic, co-founder and chief medical officer of Longevity Care Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., isn't yet convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs for healthy people. He recommends patients take supplements instead.

"I would say, do you really want to feel nauseous? Do you want to be constipated?" says Pavlovic. "And they're probably going to say no."

A dearth of data isn't stopping companies from taking advantage of the growing consumer interest in the preventive potential of these drugs.

The global market for obesity drugs will reach $159 billion in 2030, according to Morgan Stanley Research estimates.

The New England Consulting Group projects that by 2030, as much as 15% of the adult American population will be actively using the drugs, and 30% will have tried them, up from 10% and 15%, respectively, today.

AgelessRx, a telemedicine company whose clinicians prescribe off-label medications like metformin, rapamycin and GLP-1s for longevity, has added a "microdosing semaglutide" option. It is a compounded form of the drug in the form of drops that users put under their tongues at low doses.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said the company doesn't condone microdosing, which they described as a misuse of their products, and they are concerned about safety risks associated with compounded versions.

It is too early to declare GLP-1s a magic bullet for aging. Doctors say, a careful approach is warranted. "There may be health promotion benefits," says Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist and director of the precision prevention program at Atria Health Institute. "But I'm cautious about using the term longevity promotion benefits."” [1]

1. Ozempic Is Enlisted In the War on Aging. Janin, Alex.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 13 Mar 2025: A9.  

 

JAV ir Kinija nubrėžia jūros dugno žemėlapius, kad įgytų pranašumą karybos srityje

 “HONGKONGAS – Kinija sparčiai plečia vandenynų tyrinėjimus vandenyse, esančiuose toli už jos krantų, siųsdama laivų parką, kurių tyrimai suteikia Pekinui vertingos karinės žvalgybos, nes jis plečia jo karinį jūrų laivyną ir kelia grėsmę JAV sąjungininkėms.

 

 Kinijos laivynas sukėlė protestus Japonijoje, Indijoje ir kitose šalyse, tačiau tai nesutrukdė Pekinui pradėti ilgas jūros dugno žemėlapių sudarymo misijas. Jų gauti duomenys pritaikomi įvairiais būdais – nuo ​​mokslo iki besiformuojančios giliavandenės kasybos pramonės, tačiau būtent Kinijos vyriausybės vadovavimas civiliniams tyrimams kariniams tikslams kelia grėsmę Amerikos sąjungininkams.

 

 „Jei tie duomenys gali turėti kokią nors vertę Kinijos kariuomenei ir jie nori prie jų prieiti, jie juos gaus“, – sakė Strateginių ir tarptautinių studijų centro Kinijos energijos projekto vyresnysis bendradarbis Matthew Funaiole. "Nėra ugniasienės."

 

 Indijos karinis jūrų laivynas 2019 m. išvijo Kinijos mokslinių tyrimų laivą, tačiau daugiau jų sugrįžo. Pastarosiomis savaitėmis du pažangiausi Kinijos mokslinių tyrimų laivai Xiang Yang Hong 01 ir naujesnis Dong Fang Hong 3 atliko vejapjovės stiliaus šlavimą per didžiules rytinės Indijos vandenyno dalies atkarpas.

 

 Kinijos civiliniai laivai vykdo ekspedicijas visame pasaulyje – bet kuriuo metu jų yra net keliolika. Jų renkami duomenys, įskaitant sroves, temperatūrą ir druskingumą, gali būti pritaikyti įvairiems tikslams. Pavyzdžiui, išsamus jūros dugno nuskaitymas gali suteikti informacijos apie jūrų minų matomumą ir sonaro tikslumą.

 

 Tyrimai taip pat gali padėti nustatyti, kokius mineralus būtų galima išgauti. Pekinas dominuoja gynybai, elektrinėms transporto priemonėms ir kitoms technologijoms būtinų mineralų gavimo varžybose ir lenkia Vakarų komercines pastangas pasivyti.

 

 Ištyrus 64 Kinijos agentūrų, teisėsaugos, universitetų ir valstybinių įmonių eksploatuojamus mokslinius tyrimus ir apžvalginius laivus, CSIS nustatė, kad daugiau, nei 80 % laivų turėjo ryšių arba elgėsi, pavyzdžiui, lankėsi kariniuose uostuose, kurie rodo, kad jie dalyvavo „plėtojant Pekino geopolitinę darbotvarkę“.

 

 Pastarosios misijos paskatino mažiausiai pusšimčio vyriausybių skundų. Kinija teigia, kad jos jūrų tyrimų veikla visiškai atitinka Jungtinių Tautų jūrų teisės konvenciją – tarptautinę sutartį, kuria nustatytas teisinis pasaulio vandenynų režimas.

 

 Suprasti jūros dugną ir tai, kaip garsas sklinda per vandenį skirtinguose gyliuose, labai svarbu, ar galima rasti povandeninius laivus, ar pasislėpti.

 

 „Skirtingose ​​vandenyno dalyse garsas sklis įvairiais būdais, todėl norint suprasti akustiką svarbu suprasti paties vandenyno kontūrus“, – sakė Jeilio universiteto Paulo Tsai Kinijos centro vyresnysis mokslo darbuotojas Peteris Duttonas.

 

 JAV karinis jūrų laivynas taip pat atlieka jūrinius tyrimus kariniais tikslais, nors kai kurie analitikai teigia, kad šios pastangos yra aiškiau atskirtos nuo mokslinių tyrimų.

 

Pagal JT konvenciją pakrantės valstybės turi jurisdikciją vykdyti mokslinius tyrimus savo išskirtinėse ekonominėse zonose, kurios tęsiasi 200 mylių nuo kranto. JAV, kurios pripažįsta, bet neratifikavo konvencijos, tvirtina, kad kariniams tyrimams taikoma išimtis, o JAV karinio jūrų laivyno okeanografiniai laivai reguliariai atlieka tyrimus netoli Kinijos.

 

 Atrodo, kad Kinija artėja prie Amerikos pozicijos, „kadangi ji atlieka daugiau okeanografinių tyrimų be pakrantės valstybių leidimo“, sakė Duttonas.

 

 Pavojaus signalai nuskambėjo vasario mėn., kai Kinija ir Kuko salos paskelbė sudariusios visapusišką partnerystę, apimančią susitarimą bendradarbiauti okeanografinių tyrimų srityje.

 

 Kuko salos, 15 000 gyventojų turinti šalis, kurios išskirtinė ekonominė zona apima daugiau, nei 700 000 kvadratinių mylių Ramiojo vandenyno pietinėje dalyje, yra viena iš nedaugelio valstybių, išdavusių leidimus giliavandenių mineralų tyrinėjimams – tai pirmasis žingsnis link mineralų gavybos iš jūros dugno.

 

 Su JT susijusi Tarptautinė jūros dugno institucija rengia taisykles, reglamentuojančias besiformuojančios pramonės, kuri turi saugumo ir komercinį pritaikymą, valdymo taisykles. Kai kurios šalys, įskaitant Kiniją, jau pradėjo tyrimus gavusios institucijos leidimą.

 

 Giliavandenės kasybos daugiausia dėmesio skiria mažoms uolienoms vandenyno dugne, kuriose yra gyvybiškai svarbių metalų, tokių, kaip kobaltas, varis, manganas ir nikelis. Manoma, kad Kuko salos, buvęs Didžiosios Britanijos protektoratas, kurio gynyba remiasi Naująja Zelandija, savo išskirtinėje ekonominėje zonoje turi daug, kobalto turinčių, mazgų.

 

 Naujoji Zelandija, kuri nepritaria giliavandenei gavybai, vasarį skundėsi, kad salos užsitikrino partnerystę su Kinija už Naujosios Zelandijos nugaros. Mažiau, nei po dviejų savaičių, ji vėl išreiškė susirūpinimą – šį kartą dėl Kinijos karinio jūrų laivyno pratybų kaimyniniuose vandenyse. Šalies gynybos ministras pratybas pavadino pažadinimo skambučiu.” [1]

 

Ir greitai vėl užmigo.

1. World News: China Maps Seabed to Gain Edge in Warfare. Austin Ramzy.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 13 Mar 2025: A7.

USA and China Map Seabed to Gain Edge in Warfare

 

HONG KONG -- China is rapidly expanding ocean exploration in waters far beyond its shores, sending out a fleet of vessels whose research offers Beijing valuable military intelligence as it expands its naval reach and menaces U.S. allies.

China's fleet has triggered protests from Japan, India and others, but that hasn't stopped Beijing from launching long missions to map the sea floor. The data they obtain have numerous applications, from science to the emerging industry of deep-sea mining, but it is the Chinese government's commandeering of civilian research for military use that threatens American allies.

"If that data may have some value to the Chinese military and they want access to it, they're going to get it," said Matthew Funaiole, senior fellow in the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There's no firewall in place."

India's navy drove a Chinese research ship away in 2019, but more have returned. In recent weeks, two of China's most advanced research vessels, the Xiang Yang Hong 01 and the newer Dong Fang Hong 3 have conducted lawnmower-style sweeps across vast stretches of the eastern Indian Ocean.

Chinese civilian vessels are pursuing expeditions around the world -- there are as many as a dozen or so active at any given time. The data they gather, including on currents, temperature and salinity, can have an array of applications. Detailed scanning of the seabed, for instance, can provide information about the visibility of naval mines and the accuracy of sonar.

The surveys can also help determine what minerals could be extracted. Beijing is dominating the race to obtain the minerals critical for defense, electric vehicles and other technologies, and it is keeping ahead of Western commercial efforts to catch up.

In a study of 64 research and survey vessels operated by Chinese agencies, law enforcement, universities and state-owned enterprises, CSIS found more than 80% had links or showed behavior -- such as visiting military ports -- that suggested they were involved in "advancing Beijing's geopolitical agenda."

Recent missions have spurred complaints by at least half a dozen governments. China says its marine-research activities fully comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the international treaty that established the legal regime for the world's oceans.

Understanding the sea floor and how sound travels through water at different depths is critical to whether submarines can be found or stay hidden.

"Sound will travel in different ways in different parts of the ocean, so understanding the contours of the ocean itself is important to understanding the acoustics," said Peter Dutton, a senior research scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale University.

The U.S. Navy also carries out maritime surveys for military purposes, although some analysts say those efforts are more clearly separated from scientific research. Under the U.N. convention, coastal states have jurisdiction over research in their exclusive economic zones, which extend 200 miles from the coast. The U.S., which recognizes but hasn't ratified the convention, argues that military surveys are exempt and U.S. Navy oceanographic ships regularly conduct studies near China.

China appears to be moving closer to the American stance, "as they're doing more oceanographic research without the permission of coastal states," Dutton said.

Alarms went off in February when China and the Cook Islands said they had entered a comprehensive partnership that includes an agreement to cooperate on oceanographic research.

The Cook Islands, a country of 15,000 people whose exclusive economic zone covers more than 700,000 square miles of the South Pacific, is one of the few nations to have issued permits for deep-sea mineral exploration -- a first step toward extracting minerals from the seabed.

Rules on governing the nascent industry, which has security and commercial applications, are being worked on by the U.N.-affiliated International Seabed Authority. Some nations, including China, have already begun surveys with the authority's permission.

Deep-sea mining focuses on small rocks on the ocean floor that contain vital metals such as cobalt, copper, manganese and nickel. The Cook Islands, a former British protectorate that relies on New Zealand for its defense, is believed to have an extensive supply of nodules rich in cobalt in its exclusive economic zone.

New Zealand, which has opposed deep-sea mining, complained in February that the islands had secured the partnership with China behind its back. Less than two weeks later, it again voiced concerns -- this time over Chinese naval drills in neighboring waters. The country's defense minister called the drills a wake-up call.” [1]

1. World News: China Maps Seabed to Gain Edge in Warfare. Austin Ramzy.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 13 Mar 2025: A7.