Until law, GLP-1 drugs were used to treat diabetes, obesity and even the recent evidences suggest that it could as well be used to treat chronic kidney problems. There is yet another research, published in JAMA Psychiatry on February 25, titled Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial that explores if GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide reduce alcohol consumption and cravings in adults with alcohol use disorder.

What Do Studies Say?

The research was conducted over a period of 9 weeks, where in the randomized clinical trial, the participants who were administered semaglutide, it led to reductions in some but not all measures of weekly consumptions. It also reduced weekly alcohol and craving related to placebo, and also led to a greater relative reduction in cigarettes per day.

The research also found that weekly injections of semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in weight loss drugs like Wegovy also helped reduce cravings in people with alcohol use disorder.

The lead author Christian Hendershot said that these findings will help in developing new approaches to treat alcoholism. "Two drugs currently approved to reduce alcohol consumption aren't widely used. The popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 receptor agonists increases the chances of broad adoption of these treatments for alcohol use disorder," said Hendershot in news release by the University of Southern California's Institute for Addiction Research, where he is the director.

The study is government-funded research and was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The study was small, and took in account for only 48 adults over two months, thus experts say that it is not yet clear how safe these drugs are for people who do not need to lose weight. Though the results do add up with the evidence form animal studies on drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy on how it helps manage cravings, not just for food, but also for tobacco and alcohol. Scientists are also studying these drugs on smokers, people with opioid addiction and cocaine users.

Co-author Dr Klara Klein of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who treats people with obesity and diabetes said, "This is such promising data. And we need more of it. We frequently will hear that once people start these medications that their desire to drink is very reduced, if not completely abolished."

Why Does It Work So Well Against Alcoholism?

The GLP-1 receptor agonists work by mimicking hormones GLP-1 in the gut and brain that regulates appetite and feelings of fullness. This response is what helps one lose weight, and what helps one curb their craving for alcohol. These drugs that mimic the functioning of your brain, which is responsible to tell your body when to stop consuming, are the same hormones that tell your body about other kinds of consumptions, including alcohol. Therefore by consuming the weight loss drugs one can treat alcohol use disorder.

However, the researchers have pointed out on the limited data on the research and have suggested to continue using the three approved drugs by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, namely, Disulfiram, Naltrexone, and Acamprosate to treat alcohol use disorder until large studies confirm these findings.

Biotechnology company Grail's vision of detecting more than 50 cancers with one blood test may soon become a reality after it showed promise of a positive outcome with the US Food and Drug Administration staff reviewers.

According to Reuters, FDA has not raised any major concerns yet about the accuracy and of the blood test, Galleri, which is designed to capture signals from more than 50 types of cancer. The promising biomedical technology seems to be closer to a positive regulatory decision.

FDA's Stance On Galleri

Ahead of an advisory committee meeting on September 23, FDA briefing documents were released which said that reviewers had no outstanding questions regarding its accuracy, safety, overall analytical performance, and study design.

However, this does not mean the FDA has approved Galleri. External advisers will now examine whether the available evidence is sufficient to back it and approve the multi-cancer early detection test.

More About Galleri

Also read: From Remdesivir To Ventilators: COVID Patients Died Due To Hospital Protocols, Claims Whistleblower Nurse

Galleri is a type of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test. Instead of searching for one specific cancer, it examines and analyses DNA fragments circulating in the blood for chemical patterns linked with various cancers.

If the test detects a cancer signal, it also attempts to predict where in the body that signal originated, helping doctors decide which diagnostic tests may be needed next.

The test is not meant to replace to existing cancer screening tests such as mammograms, colon cancer screening and cervical cancer screening. It is supposed to be used with existing screening methods for faster and more accurate diagnoses.

One Question Still Remains

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No multi-cancer detection test is currently FDA-authorised in the US. Some are available as laboratory-developed tests, but they do not undergo the same premarket approval process.

Grail submitted Galleri for FDA premarket approval in January 2026. The application includes data from PATHFINDER 2, a US study involving more than 25,000 participants, as well as data from the large NHS-Galleri trial in the UK.

The FDA's latest briefing documents describe the test as having a favourable benefit-risk profile, but advisers have been asked to consider an important question before making their decision.

The question is does detecting a cancer signal translate into meaningful clinical benefit for patients? It's important as finding more cancers is not automatically the same as saving more lives.

Galleri Has Also Faced Questions About Early Detection

In February, Grail reported that its large UK NHS-Galleri trial did not significantly reduce the combined rate of stage III and IV cancers, the study's primary endpoint, across three screening rounds.

Later analyses reported by Grail found reductions in stage IV diagnoses during screening rounds that were held later, but the company also acknowledged that the trial did not show a statistically significant reduction in the combined primary endpoint of stage III and IV cancers.

This is why the FDA's question about whether Galleri should be considered an “early detection” test is particularly crucial.

The FDA's Molecular and Clinical Genetics Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee is scheduled to review the application on September 23. The panel's recommendation will help inform the FDA. If authorised, Galleri could become the first FDA-authorised multi-cancer detection test in the US.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have ended, but memories of overwhelmed hospitals, medicine shortages, overworked healthcare workers and deaths remain fresh for many who lost loved ones.

US-registered nurse and whistleblower Kimberly Overton has claimed that some COVID-19 patients died because of hospital treatment protocols, including the use of remdesivir and ventilators.

“Patients did not die of COVID. They were killed by hospital protocols — remdesivir, ventilators, and the denial of life-saving treatments,” Overton claimed on several podcasts.

Nurses Claims Patients Died From Hospital Protocols

Overton has also described what she says she witnessed while working in an ICU during the pandemic.

“Ventilators are the new gas chambers." "I worked ICU during the pandemic... I could not watch one more of my patients needlessly die due to deadly hospital protocols."

“No bodies piling up at homes or on streets — they were dying inside hospitals from medical mismanagement and a corrupt system. This wasn't a virus. It was protocol murder”.

Overton founded the Nurse Freedom Network, a US-based organization that advocates for nurses, patients and informed consent and has amplified criticism of COVID-era hospital protocols.

Also read: Natural Origin or Lab Leak? Gabbard Reignites COVID Origins Debate, Claims Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research

Overton is not the first nurse to make such claims.

In 2023, Gail McCrae, who worked at a hospital in California's Bay Area, also criticized COVID-era hospital protocols and the use of remdesivir.

McCrae said remdesivir was the main medication nurses at her hospital were allowed to administer to hospitalized COVID-19 patients. She also questioned the timing of treatment, claiming patients were receiving the drug 10 to 12 days after symptoms began.

During one double shift, McCrae said she noticed an increase in “code blue” calls, referring to emergencies requiring resuscitation or immediate medical intervention.

“And nine out of 10 times those code blues were to the lower level, down to the clinic, where they were injecting people. [Two of] my colleagues did in fact go into anaphylaxis, after receiving their shots.”

What Was The Remdesivir Controversy?

Remdesivir became one of the first widely used antiviral treatments for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the US.

Read More: COVID Hearing: US Senate Panel Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt; Phone Records Under Review

The NIH-backed ACTT-1 trial found that remdesivir shortened recovery time, with patients recovering in a median of 10 days compared with 15 days in the placebo group. However, the WHO-led Solidarity trial found little or no effect on mortality, need for ventilation or hospital stay.

In November 2020, WHO issued a conditional recommendation against using remdesivir in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, citing insufficient evidence that it improved survival or other important outcomes.

The US FDA, meanwhile, granted full approval to remdesivir in October 2020 for certain hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Trump Also Received Remdesivir

Read More: COVID Hearing: US Senate Panel Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt; Phone Records Under Review

Then-US President Donald Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19 in October 2020. His treatment included remdesivir.

Dr Anthony Fauci, who led the US response to the pandemic, had earlier described remdesivir as a potential “standard of care” after early trial results showed that it reduced recovery time.

COVID Origins and Deaths

According to the WHO, more than 7.1 million COVID-19 deaths have been officially reported worldwide since the pandemic began.

However, WHO cautions that the reported figure does not necessarily reflect the actual number of deaths because countries differ in testing, definitions and reporting practices, and many have reduced or stopped reporting COVID-19 deaths.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1.2 million COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the United States since the pandemic began.

WHO's latest data also show that COVID-19 deaths continue to be reported globally, although surveillance and reporting have declined significantly.

The origins of SARS-CoV-2 also remain under investigation. The major hypotheses include zoonotic spillover and a possible laboratory-related incident, with scientific assessments continuing to evolve.

Seven in 10 general practitioners in the United Kingdom believe adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is being overdiagnosed, according to a survey of 829 doctors.

The observation has reignited debate over the dramatic increase in adult ADHD referrals and diagnoses.

The survey, conducted by GP publication Pulse, found that 410 GPs described adult ADHD as “very overdiagnosed” while 173 considered it “slightly overdiagnosed”.

Only 50 said it was diagnosed about right, while 148 believed it was underdiagnosed to some degree.

Pulse said that the survey should be viewed as a GP's opinion rather than a proven scientific estimate of overdiagnosis.

The survey also found that GPs estimated an average of 81.3% of patients they referred to adult ADHD services eventually received a positive diagnosis.

But that figure does not mean that 81% of people with suspected ADHD have it. These patients had already been referred for an assessment by a specialist, meaning they had passed through an initial clinical screening process.

Doctors Are Concerned About ADHD Overdiagnosis In Adults

Some GPs responding to the survey raised concerns that assessments may sometimes be too narrow and focus on identifying ADHD without considering other conditions that can cause similar symptoms that could overlap with ADHD. These can include anxiety, depression, trauma and other mental health conditions.

One GP told Pulse that they were concerned about “superficial” assessments and whether patients’ histories of trauma or adverse childhood experiences were being considered accurately.

There are also concerns around the growing use of private assessment providers. Some GPs surveyed said they believed positive diagnosis rates were higher among private providers than NHS services, although these are individual doctors’ observations rather than evidence represented nationally.

At the same time, Dr Katie Bramall, chair of the BMA's GP committee, argued that a high positive diagnosis rate among referred patients is not necessarily evidence of overdiagnosis.

She said lengthy NHS waits may mean that only people who remain convinced that ADHD is affecting them significantly eventually reach assessment.

She also pointed to changing understanding of ADHD, including how it can present in women and adults, as one reason more people are being recognised.

Also read: Botox And Fillers: UK Watchdog Says Clinics Should Check Mental Health Before Injecting

Is ADHD Being Overdiagnosed?

An interim report from the UK government's independent review of ADHD, autism and mental health conditions said recorded ADHD diagnoses in England have increased, particularly among younger adults and women.

The NHS's independent ADHD Taskforce has previously estimated adult ADHD prevalence at around 2-3%, while recorded diagnoses were significantly lower in earlier datasets. The taskforce concluded that under-recognition remained a problem.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also agreed that the rise in diagnoses should not be automatically interpreted as overdiagnoses of ADHD.

It has pointed to other factors like better awareness and improved recognition, while also addressing concerns about online self-assessment that may not be always accurate.

The government review therefore says that the current situation is more complex than simply labelling ADHD as either overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed. It highlights the lack of recent, large-scale representative data measuring adult ADHD prevalence in England.

On the other hand, demand for ADHD treatment continues to climb. NHS figures cited by Pulse show prescriptions for ADHD medicines increased by 29% between July 2025 and June 2026 compared with the previous 12 months, with an average of 238,000 patients receiving these medicines each month.

Also read: ADHD: Your Pupils May Explain How The Brain Handles Attention, Says New Indian Study

Signs of ADHD

For people asking themselves if they might have ADHD, one must look to medical sources over social media popularity. The NHS says that signs of ADHD in adults are most often:

• Difficulty with organization and time management
• Having trouble with following instructions
• Having trouble keeping one's focus on tasks and seeing them through
• Feeling restless or being impatient
• Risk-taking and being impulsive
• Trouble in relationships or in social situations