As a drug, it was originally used to help cancer patients deal with the side-effects of chemotherapy
doi:10.1136/bmj-2025-086886
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I think Monica started out very much as the voice of the audienceand even before that, the ear of the audience, says Adam Grant, an author and organizational psychologist whos appeared on the show twice

These wonder drugs developed originally as a therapeutic tool for diabetes (and coupled with a healthful diet theyre a good one for that) are famously now being employed for weight loss in the broader non-diabetic (and sometimes not even particularly overweight) population, but also for a crazy quilt array of other conditions, including: cardiovascular risk reduction (for which theyve gained FDA approval), obstructive sleep apnea tied to obesity, slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease, improving fatty liver disease, protecting against Alzheimers and other dementias, and such off label applications as reducing the craving for alcohol and other addictive substances, lowering blood pressure, improving lipid profiles, increasing insulin sensitivity in PCOS, and possible roles in alleviating chronic pain, strengthening bones in osteoporosis, and reducing seizures