美国国家公共电台 NPR--Tirzepatide, for treatment of adults with obesity, is on the fast track for FDA's OK

Tirzepatide, for treatment of adults with obesity¹, is on the fast track for FDA's OK

Transcript²

There are signs that obesity drugs are improving. A new drug being "fast-tracked" for FDA approval has been shown to help users lose more than a fifth of their body weight.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news now. Obesity drugs appear to keep getting better. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE³: Frank Rayfiel (ph) is a retired⁴ media executive in his 70s whose struggle with weight goes back decades. At one point, he weighed about 340 pounds, and he told me it was a struggle to help his daughter learn to ride a bike.

FRANK RAYFIEL: You know how it's done. You run in back of the bike with your hand on the seat, and when she's a few steps away, you say, hey, look, you're doing it, right? Well, I couldn't run after her. And it was really burdensome to me. I hated that.

AUBREY: Rayfiel tried lots of diets, including keto, and he lost a lot of weight. But when his weight loss plateaued and he continued to need insulin, his appetite increased. Then early this year, his doctor told him about a new drug that had just become available.

RAYFIEL: Within two months, I lost 10% of my body weight without really trying. So it's that without really trying thing that's amazing.

AUBREY: Rayfiel is taking a drug called tirzepatide, which is currently approved for people with diabetes⁵ and marketed as Mounjaro. Now the FDA has fast-tracked review of new evidence showing the drug is effective for a wider range of people with weight-related issues. The drug is similar to the blockbuster Ozempic, but has an additional gut⁶ hormone⁷ to help cut appetite.

RAYFIEL: Now I'll sit down with a big sandwich and I'll eat half of it and say, I'm done. I'm full. I'm completely full. It certainly gets me satiated much more quickly.

AUBREY: Dr. Louis Aronne of Weill Cornell Medicine is one of the investigators⁸ and co-author of the published study results.

LOUIS ARONNE: What we found was that tirzepatide produced weight loss of up to 22.5%. That's a result that is as good as most types of bariatric surgery.

AUBREY: Aronne says obesity drugs have come a long way. And as a doctor who has consulted with drug companies to evaluate them, he says the newer class of medications can do more than help people lose weight.

ARONNE: I think we're in the middle of a revolution in the treatment of cardiometabolic disease.

AUBREY: By treating obesity, the hope is to prevent related conditions. Dr. Pamela Brandt of Inova Health System in Virginia takes an integrative approach to treating obesity and metabolic⁹ disease and says the new medicines can be very helpful to those who get access to them.

PAMELA BRANDT: So to be able to give someone a tool and know that it's most likely going to help them, that's really, really cool.

AUBREY: She says obesity is not a cosmetic¹⁰ issue, and the new obesity drugs are not about slimming down to fit into a ball gown or wedding dress, despite headlines about celebrities¹¹ and influencers using them. Obesity is a disease that puts people's lives at risk.

BRANDT: Obesity is definitely a medical issue. The disease itself is intimately connected, if not what drives all of those other downstream metabolic problems, right? So Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and the sleep disruptions and the cardiovascular risk that that leads to.

AUBREY: At a time when about 650 million people around the globe have obesity and lifespans are shortened, she says medical tools such as surgery and medicines are needed. For now, the biggest obstacles come down to money and time. The new medications cost thousands of dollars a year per patient and may need to be taken indefinitely for the benefits to hold up.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian is a cardiologist and a professor at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition. He says the health care system can't afford these drugs for everyone. He argues for investing in preventive strategies, such as healthier foods and changing the food system.

DARIUSH MOZAFFARIAN: In my experience, patients want to be on these drugs to get the weight off. But very few people want to be on these for life. And it's also very few payers want to pay for these for life.

AUBREY: He says these drugs should be used for people who need them, but should be paired with access to nutritious¹² food and lifestyle support to help create healthier communities.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

7 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

10 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

11 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

12 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。