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GLP-1 receptor agonists are everywhere right now. They’re talked about on social media, in exam rooms, and at dinner tables. But they aren’t new. This class of medications was originally developed to treat diabetes. GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1 . I like to think of it as a key. And the GLP-1 receptors? Those are the locks. These locks live all over the body—in the brain, the pancreas, the heart, and the gastrointestinal tract. When the key fits into the lock, a fe

In the second half of 2024, the GLP-1 buzz was everywhere, and I started to quietly wonder if it was something I should consider. Almost immediately, doubt set in. Read more about GLP-1s here. https://www.rx4trauma.com/post/a-key-a-lock-and-a-shift-in-how-i-feel-about-obesity I had taken Ozempic back in 2022 and ended up in the emergency room. I’m fairly certain my husband declared—very firmly—that I should never take it again. On top of that, despite everything I’ve written

In the 1980s, the explanation for obesity was simple: overconsumption and inactivity. And to be fair, that wasn’t wrong. But it also wasn’t the whole story. Obesity is far more complex than “eat less, move more.” Most of the time, it’s the result of multiple factors working together—many of them outside a person’s control. Let’s talk about a few. A conceptual illustration highlighting the diverse factors contributing to obesity, featuring a silhouette of a pregnant woman surr

When I was in residency, I took care of a woman who had obesity.Notice I didn’t say she was obese. Semantics matter. A wide open mouth surrounded by speech bubbles featuring random gibberish words, illustrating playful and nonsensical communication. Obesity is a disease—just like hypertension, diabetes, or cancer. But it is not what defines a person. A person cannot be obese; they can have obesity. For far too long in this country, we’ve labeled people as “obese,” reducing th