The former roofless outdoor ice rink, which was part of an existing landscaped recreational swimming complex, needed to be replaced due to old technology and a chilling unit that did not comply to current regulations.Due to a tight budget, the city of Niesky was interested in a new ice rink with a roof, but without a facade, leaving the ice-rink exposed to outdoor conditions (humidity, temperature, etc). This solution is low in investment and operational costs because the facility can... We don’t flood you with panic-inducing headlines or race to be first We focus on being useful to you — breaking down the news in ways that inform We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today could soon be used for a lot more than weight loss by Dylan Scott The blockbuster semaglutide drugs have seen unprecedented demand over the past year after studies found that the medications, originally developed for type 2 diabetes, were remarkably effective in helping people lose weight. Patients lost an average of 15 percent of their body mass in clinical trials that launched a media and medical frenzy this search for Ozempic’s other clinical applications is just smart business Previous blockbuster drugs have later been approved for uses that seemed to have little to do with their original purpose: Viagra was initially developed to be a blood pressure drug People who work in drug development sometimes talk about a “pipeline in a pill” — “the notion of a molecule that is able to treat a large number of different indications,” said Darius Lakdawalla a health care economist who studies the pharmaceutical industry at the University of Southern California With rivals to Ozempic and Wegovy already in the works finding new applications for those drugs is one way for their manufacturer to stay a step ahead of the competition the firehose of new clinical findings and media speculation might feel overwhelming I spoke with several experts to try to make sense of the hype The picture that emerges is of a drug with genuinely enormous potential — but plenty of uncertainty ahead Semaglutide’s utility in treating the many health conditions associated with obesity is intuitive If patients can reduce their body weight by 15 percent or more they can usually lower their blood pressure and cholesterol thereby lessening the chances that they will have a heart attack or a stroke “The fact that the drugs lead to substantial weight loss and weight is tied to every outcome under the sun, it is no surprise to me that they would add these outcomes in trials related to the drugs.” said Stacie Dusetzina a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University And, so far, research supported by Novo Nordisk has borne out that premise. In early August, the company announced that a large clinical trial had found taking semaglutide reduced the risk of a major cardiovascular event for overweight or obese patients 45 years or older by 20 percent when compared to a placebo (These findings were preliminary; full results will be released later this year.) In late August, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of another smaller study that examined how Wegovy affected people with the most common form of heart failure found that patients who took Wegovy had fewer symptoms and more weight loss than patients who took a placebo The lead researcher told CNN that the results were “the largest treatment benefit we’ve ever seen” by those metrics Ozempic and Wegovy clearly hold real potential for treating cardiovascular conditions though research will continue in order to confirm these early findings As I’ve previously written health insurers generally don’t pay for Ozempic and Wegovy Medicare and Medicaid don’t cover weight-loss drugs as a rule and most private health insurers don’t either If a patient and their doctor do think the drug should be covered they may still have to meet certain conditions (such as requiring tests or other documentation) before a health insurer will agree to pay for the medicine these drugs cost upward of $1,000 per month — prohibitive for a lot of patients who may benefit from using them Their potential to save lives has been part of the argument from doctors that insurers should pay up. But countervailing evidence has complicated the debate. Bloomberg reported at the end of August on another study that concluded insurers may have to spend up to $1 million on the semaglutide drugs at their current prices in order to save a single life the evidence for Wegovy’s benefits for cardiovascular health overall seems strong semaglutide is showing promise for a different variation of the disease for which it was first approved six years ago: diabetes Ozempic first came onto the market in 2017 to treat type 2 diabetes the more common version of the disease that is often associated with obesity insulin is sometimes but not always necessary; diet and exercise can go a long way too which is rarer and tends to develop earlier in life insulin has been a lifeline since it was first produced for human use 100 years ago But Ozempic may be able to change that reality too. In a small study of 10 patients who were recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes seven of them were able to stop taking any kind of insulin within six months Their bodies improved in producing insulin and their blood sugar was more stable The same is true for the drug’s potential for substance abuse and dementia People who work in addiction treatment say Ozempic and Wegovy have spurred a lot of conversation in their field. But the evidence isn’t there yet. One study involving mice, published in 2021, found that using a similar agent did not seem to have an effect on cocaine use but people who have taken semaglutide have self-reported reduced alcohol consumption It is an exciting moment and there are legitimate reasons to be hopeful about Ozempic’s potential But we are still in the early chapters of this remarkable story Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day the courts must rule in favor of a lawmaker who bullied a high school student Trump’s latest executive order presents a test for Democrats Auto workers supported tariffs to protect their jobs Today, Explained podcastMay 4Love on the Spectrum stars call on RFK Jr. to resignTwo cast members of the hit Netflix reality TV show on what the HHS secretary misunderstands about autism. Advocates are banking on a new use for federal housing vouchers. The public has largely turned on him — but opinions on some of his policies are nuanced. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Eurotunnel inaugurated the first of three new The three 800-metre long shuttles are each made up of 32 carrier wagons three loaders and a club car for the truck drivers Made to order by WBN Waggonbau Niesky GmbH for Eurotunnel at a cost of €40 million the three new shuttles will strengthen the existing fleet and bring an additional 20% capacity enabling Eurotunnel to offer up to eight freight departures per hour Subscribe to Key Modern Railways now to access the wealth of information on offer completely ad free Subscribe now Key Publishing Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with Company Number 2713662