What to know about body roundness index, an alternative to BMI

(NEW YORK) — A new study suggests that GLP-1 agonist medications like Ozempic, which are used for diabetes management and weight loss, may help reduce the risk of overdose and alcohol intoxication in people with substance use disorders.

“It helps to underline another significant benefit of this class of medication,” Dr. Angela Fitch, the co-founder, and chief medical officer of knownwell, a company that provides weight-inclusive health care, told ABC News.

The large study, published in the journal, Addiction, analyzed the health records of 1.3 million people from 136 U.S. hospitals for nearly nine years. That included the records of 500,000 people with opioid use and more than 800,000 with alcohol use disorder.

Those who took Ozempic or a similar drug had a 40% lower chance of overdosing on opioids and a 50% lower chance of getting drunk compared to those who didn’t take the medication, the study found.

“The existing medications for treating substance use disorder are underutilized and stigmatized,” said Fares Qeadan, associate professor of biostatistics at Loyola University in Chicago. “These medications intended for diabetes and weight loss can help addiction without the associated stigma, which will be a new window for how to deal with addiction.”

The protective effects were consistent and even applied to people with Type 2 diabetes, obesity, or both conditions.

Fitch expressed optimism about the study’s results.

“As clinicians, recognizing that people can get double benefits from something is always helpful and as more obesity medications enter the market, this can help personalize treatments,” she said.

GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic and the combination drug tirzepatide also included in the study, mimic a natural hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 to help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. For managing obesity and diabetes, these medications work by slowing digestion, reducing appetite, and enhancing insulin release in response to meals.

Scientists don’t fully understand how these drugs work yet. Some studies indicate that they activate specific “reward” receptors in the brain that make high-calorie foods less gratifying, so users eat less.

This could also be the reason these drugs may reduce cravings for alcohol and opioids. For example, a previous study found that adding the GLP-1, exenatide, was effective at helping some people with obesity and alcohol use disorder drink less.

The Addiction study does not prove that GLP-1 medications directly lower the risks of opioid overdose and alcohol intoxication, only that people taking them seemed to be helped. And it only included hospitalizations so it’s not clear if they will work as well in less serious cases.

Prescribing the drugs to treat substance use, at least for now, isn’t possible because they aren’t approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for that purpose, Fitch pointed out.

“One of the challenges that we have as clinicians is we know that some of these benefits help patients. And not being able to get them access is very challenging,” she said.

People with substance use disorder keep using drugs or alcohol even though it causes problems in their life. According to the CDC, there are 178,000 annual deaths linked to excessive drinking. Over 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2022 involved opioids.

If you or someone you know is living with substance use disorder, free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling or texting the national lifeline at 988.

Dr. Faizah Shareef is an Internal Medicine Resident Physician and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — Health officials are warning Americans about a rare insect-borne virus that has infected several travelers.

As of Aug. 16, there have been 21 cases of Oropouche virus disease, sometimes called “sloth fever,” detected among U.S. travelers returning from Cuba, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC said it wants clinicians and public health offices to be aware of the virus and to test for suspected cases, and for travelers to protect themselves from insect bites.

Here’s what you need to know about the virus:

What is ‘sloth fever’?

Oropouche virus is an arthropod-borne virus, meaning a type of virus spread to people by the bite of infected arthropods, a group of insects.

The virus is mainly spread to humans by infected culicoides prariensis, a species of biting midges, although it can be transmitted by certain mosquito species, according to the CDC.

It is sometimes called “sloth fever” because scientists investigating the virus first found it in a three-toed sloth and the virus naturally live in sloths, non-human primates and birds.

“I think that really stems from the role of sloths as hosts in that natural transmission cycle,” Dr. Chantal Vogels, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, told ABC News. “But there’s other animals involved as well.”

Oropouche virus is endemic to the Amazon basin — including Bolivia, Colombia and Peru — and was first discovered in a human in 1955 in a febrile forest worker in a village in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The concern is that now it is spreading to Cuba and possibly elsewhere in the Caribbean, with imported cases in the U.S.,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told ABC News. “There is a possibility that it could gain a foothold in the southern U.S. especially in Gulf Coast states.”

What are the symptoms?

The incubation period of Oropouche virus disease is three to 10 days and matches symptoms of similar diseases including dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

Common symptoms include fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and joint pain, typically lasting about two to seven days and then disappearing.

Patients may experience other symptoms including nausea, vomiting, rash, sensitivity to light, dizziness and pain behind the eyes.

“This virus is an interesting one in that about a week later, 50% or more of people will have a recurrence of the symptoms,” Dr. Michael Angarone, an infectious diseases specialist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, told ABC News. “So, the symptoms will recur and, again, be present for around five days to seven days and then go away. So, I think that’s a very interesting aspect of this virus.”

How is it treated?

To be diagnosed with Oropouche virus disease, a health care provider will have to order laboratory tests.

There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat Oropouche virus disease. Treatment mainly involves treating the symptoms including getting rest, preventing dehydration, and taking over-the-counter pain medicine, such as acetaminophen, according to the CDC.

The CDC advises against taking aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs until dengue can be ruled out to lower the risk of bleeding.

How do I prevent the virus?

The best prevention method is to prevent bites from midges or mosquitoes. The CDC recommends using insect repellent, having tight-fitting screens on windows and doors, wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants and using a fan when outdoors.

Currently there is no evidence of local transmission in the U.S; the only cases have been travel-related.

“Here in the U.S., I think travelers should be alert,” Vogels said. “If they travel to areas where there is ongoing transmission, they should be aware of potential symptoms upon return.”

There have also been recent reports of possible vertical transmission, which is when a pregnant person passes the infection to their baby in utero. The infection may result in adverse pregnancy outcomes, including fetal deaths and congenital malformations.

“This has been demonstrated in South America, but also in, I think, a few of the cases that are being looked at now from Cuba,” Angarone said. “There have been descriptions of fetal demise, so [miscarriage] or premature labor and congenital abnormalities, they have not been confirmed to be caused by the virus or the infection, and that’s what’s being looked into.”

The experts recommend that travelers — especially those who are older or immunocompromised — exercise further precautions when traveling to prevent infection.

Those who are pregnant and are considering travel to countries with an Oropouche virus Level 2 Travel Health Notice, reconsider nonessential travel, the CDC says.

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(NEW YORK) — A man who was left paralyzed after diving into a swimming pool as a teenager was recently able to drive again for the first time, eight years after his injury.

Ryley Hopper, 27, got behind the wheel of a specially equipped van on Aug. 14, his first time driving since he was paralyzed from the chest down at the age of 19.

“It’s a very empowering, independent thing,” Hopper told ABC News’ Good Morning America, about reclaiming the freedom to drive again. “I wanted to want something … to find a purpose to attack head on.”

Hopper was a college freshman at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and enjoying a summer swim in his friend’s pool in 2016 when he flipped into the shallow end, hit the bottom and lost consciousness.

His friend, trained as a lifeguard, performed CPR on Hopper to keep him stable until the ambulance arrived.

The accident left Hopper with a life-altering C5-C7 spinal cord injury that resulted in paralysis from the chest down.

He spent nearly a month at Duke University Hospital, including four days in a medically induced coma, before being transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta for two months of intensive inpatient rehabilitation.

“In the beginning, I was figuring out what the future would look like … my first goal was to get back to school,” said Hopper, who prioritized returning to UNCW the following fall semester to complete his undergraduate and graduate finance degrees.

With his mother as his caretaker and a supportive community behind him, a couple years after entering the workforce, Hopper said he was ready to “attack this driving thing … and be more in control of my life.”

“It took a while to reset my mindset,” he said, but “minutes after being in the car, the butterflies went away.”

Hopper attributes spending time outside as a factor in his post-injury progress, and for him, driving is an extension of that.

“A lot of healing is done indoors — in and out of physicians’ offices — and the natural world isn’t always accessible,” said Hopper, who said he aspires to one day create a space for people with disabilities to participate in accessible outdoor activities and reconnect with nature.

When setting spinal cord injury recovery milestones, Hopper also underscores the importance of mental health and striving for personal growth.

“I’ve been given a unique perspective because of my injury, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the struggle I’ve been through,” he said.

For others dealing with a spinal cord injury, Hopper reminded them to not forget to find the silver lining.

“Find peace and serenity,” he said. “Once you realize that you’re in a position that grants you a unique perspective on life … it’s a kind of superpower in itself.”

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