When dinosaurs walked the earth and I was a boy, my daddy used to tell me the story of the fountain of Zum Zum. I cannot remember where my daddy told me it was located, but I vividly remember the tale of its magic properties. If you were dipped into it, you got eternal youth or became invincible. A bit, I later learned, like Thetis with her little son Achilles dipped by his heel in the Styx.
I still think of the story of Zum Zum, but as one grows up, one smiles at the tale. Fantastic. Unreal. Not so. Idly scanning the web, I learned there is a Spanish Adventure park that offers a dip in the Zum Zum waters (no name, as I cannot do adverts; I do not work for the New England Journal of Medicine).
Hard on the heels of this discovery came Carl’s usual “have you seen this:
Laura Donnelly, Health Editor
30 August 2024 • 8:10 pm
Ozempic could offer “the fountain of youth” and turn back the clock on a host of diseases, scientists have found.
In an unprecedented development, 11 studies published in one day found that the new class of semaglutide medications have “far-reaching benefits” beyond what was ever imagined.
The findings will put pressure on the NHS to roll the drugs out much more widely, like statins.
Currently, only patients who are obese or who have type 2 diabetes can access semaglutide drugs on the health service.
The injections are marketed as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and as Wegovy for weight loss.
However, the studies suggest millions of people, including those who are not overweight, could potentially benefit from the drugs to improve quality of life, possibly saving the health service much-needed funds.
The breakthroughs will heap pressure on the Government to harness new advances to overhaul Britain’s health, rather than resorting to “nanny state” measures.
The research comes after Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that the Government could ban smoking in pub gardens, arguing that the move would reduce the burden on the NHS.
It also comes weeks after a breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug was blocked from use on the NHS, with the watchdog arguing that lecanemab did not represent value for money despite experts saying the treatment slowed cognitive decline by almost a third in patients.
Semaglutide was found to have improved conditions including high blood pressure and heart and kidney disease in the research.
Prof Harlan M Krumholz, one of Yale University’s leading professors, said the “mind-blowing” results showed the drugs appeared to slow down standard markers for ageing, in a way no other medication had achieved.
He said: “We talk about this epigenetic clock…could this actually slow the clock down?” he said, adding he subscribed to the theory that it could slow down the process of biological ageing.
“Is it a fountain of youth… I would say if you’re improving someone’s cardiometabolic health substantially, then you are putting them in a position to live longer and better.” (END of QUOTE)
So my daddy was right! That was my first reaction, swiftly followed by a groan. If you recall our recent series on another Zum Zum intervention, Lecanemab, Carl’s alert was the beginning of another load of work for two-tired old geezers.
The same media, the same journalist. She must have a monopoly on miracles.
So, readers, do you really want us to look at the evidence for the Zum Zum drug?
This post was written by an old geezer who drowned in the Styx.
I'm pretty sure what you would find if you look at these claims. Laura Donnelly has form with these articles spouting sensational claims by the drug companies. Sadly, having worked as a NHS GP for 35 years, it was only when I retired that I realised that an old Prof of Pharmacology at Cambridge (a man of the North) was more or less on the right lines when he said that there were "only 5 proper drugs"- I think they were aspirin, morphine, frusemide, penicillin and digoxin. If he were still alive I doubt he would be adding Ozempic to his list!!
Dear old geezers , please investigate before they make taking the Zum Zum compulsory to “save the NHS “ 😬