Scientists reveal exact moment alcohol, smoking and lack of exercise starts to wreak havoc on your body
Many people employ the adage that you're only young once to justify making the most of your teens and twenties, yet new information from scientists gives a different meaning to the saying as the effects of smoking, drinking, and a lack of exercise are revealed.
It's not exactly rocket science to understand that unhealthy habits aren't the best for your body, yet it's often chalked off as something you can deal with and sort out down the line while current you doesn't have to face the problem.
Doctors have already warned that consuming too much unhealthy food can lead to a premature death, and even 'miracle' weight loss drugs like Ozempic can't make up for an unhealthy lifestyle.
However, one new scientific study has revealed the exact moment that your body begins to experience the long-term negative effects of harmful habits like smoking, excessive drinking, and a lack of exercise, and it's likely to shock you with how early it occurs.
As reported by the New York Post, the study published in Annals of Medicine by researchers from the Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland outlines that you begin to experience fast-tracked negative effects as early as your mid thirties.
Dr. Tiia Kekäläinen, lead author of the study, has argued that its findings highlight the importance of tackling these 'bad habits' as early as possible, as they can have an extremely detrimental effect on your body and health as you age.
Previous studies have linked high alcohol consumption with increased mortality rates, and worrying simulations showing the effect of binge drinking in the short term are certainly enough to give you pause for thought when it comes to your next pint or shot.
Alcohol, as illustrated by the study, is linked to outcomes including increased depressive symptoms, lower psychological well-being, lower self-rated health, and greater metabolic risk factors, proving to be a dangerous cocktail of health issues that'll hit you sooner than you might think.
If you're a keen smoker, you're also at risk of poorer mental well-being, whereas those who shy away from physical activity in their teens and twenties are often susceptible to health conditions as they grow older.
The research conducted within the paper concludes that these behaviors "were associated with poorer mental well-being and health," insisting that "preventing these behaviors early in adulthood and midlife is crucial to avoid their accumulation and subsequent health risks."
You certainly shouldn't see your life as a closed book though with no chance to amend your health, as Dr. Kekäläinen has urged that "it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age."
Therefore there's no reason you can't make a change in your life, as while the effects have been shown to begin relatively early on in life, they'll only continue to grow and get worse if a shift to a healthier lifestyle isn't made.
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Health Line
6 hours ago
- Health Line
GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Study Finds
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Neovascular age-related macular degeneration, commonly known as wet AMD, is the less common but more aggressive form of age-related macular degeneration, and a leading cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults in the United States. The findings, published on June 5 in JAMA Ophthalmology, suggest that doctors and patients should be aware of the potential risks, even though the chance of developing the condition remains relatively low. GLP-1 drugs, a class of blockbuster diabetes and obesity drugs sold under brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy, have surged in popularity in recent years. They offer a range of substantial benefits, including weight loss, improved blood sugar levels, and reduced cardiovascular disease risk. Despite these benefits, ophthalmologists say the impact of GLP-1 drugs on eye health is not well understood. Studies have identified an association between the medications and other eye conditions, including diabetic retinopathy and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). While the findings don't establish a clear causal link between GLP-1 drugs and eye disease, experts say there's still reason for caution. 'The dose-response effect we observed — where longer GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure was associated with higher risk — strengthens the argument that this association may reflect a true biological effect rather than being due to confounding factors,' said study co-author Andrew Mihalache, MD(C), of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada. 'Seeing a graded relationship like this suggests that prolonged exposure could play a causal role in increasing risk. However, this needs to be confirmed in future studies,' he told Healthline. Long-term GLP-1 drug use may triple wet AMD risk Drawing on health records from Ontario, Canada, researchers at the University of Toronto analyzed nearly 140,000 adults with type 2 diabetes to investigate a possible link between GLP-1 use and wet AMD. The retrospective study tracked patient outcomes over a three-year period, using data collected between 2020 and 2023. Roughly one-third of participants — about 46,000 people — had been prescribed a GLP-1 drug for at least six months. The rest had not. In the vast majority of cases (97.5%), that drug was semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy. The average participant was 66, and the cohort was almost evenly divided by sex, with females representing 46.6% of the group. On average, those who were prescribed a GLP-1 drug were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with wet AMD. However, that number doesn't tell the full story. People who took GLP-1 drugs for longer experienced progressively greater risk. Those who had only taken their medication for 6–18 months actually had a slightly lower risk than those who didn't take the medication. However, at the 18–30 month mark, GLP-1 users' risk of developing wet AMD more than doubled compared to non-users. And those taking the drugs for 30 months or longer had more than triple the risk. 'This was definitely surprising, especially given the growing enthusiasm for GLP-1 receptor agonists for their cardiovascular and metabolic benefits. It really highlights the need for further investigation into their ocular safety profile,' first study author Reut Shor, MD, of the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada, told Healthline. Despite the increase in risk, the absolute risk of developing wet AMD was still low: 0.2% among those taking a GLP-1 and 0.1% among those who didn't. Do GLP-1 drugs harm eye health? While not definitive, the study raises further questions about the potential risks posed by GLP-1 drugs for eye health. Prior studies have also identified links between GLP-1s and other forms of eye disease in people with type 2 diabetes. In a major phase 3 semaglutide trial in 2016, researchers identified that type 2 diabetes patients taking semaglutide had a higher risk of complications of diabetic retinopathy compared to a placebo. Those findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine. However, other studies have provided conflicting evidence. A retrospective 2024 study evaluated nearly 700 subjects with type 2 diabetes who were taking a GLP-1 drug and found no association between GLP-1s and worsening retinopathy. Also in 2024, researchers found that patients with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed semaglutide were at greater risk of NAION compared to those who weren't. NAION is a condition that causes sudden blindness, typically just in one eye, due to a lack of blood flow to the optic nerve. The mechanism for why GLP-1 drug use may lead to wet AMD is not well established, but a predominant theory is that lowering blood sugar rapidly leads to a lack of oxygen in the retina. 'When you make the retina more hypoxic, which is what the GLP-1s do, it basically pushes it further over the threshold, causing more abnormal blood vessels to grow,' said Linda Lam, MD, MBA, an ophthalmologist with Keck Medicine of USC, who wasn't involved in the research. Abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye is the hallmark of wet AMD. While GLP-1s offer many health benefits, eye disease risk must be considered in some populations, Lam told Healthline. 'In this particular group of patients who are older, who are diabetics, I really would caution against the extended use of GLP-1s,' she said. Lam reiterated the importance of annual eye exams for the general population, but in particular for those with diabetes, to identify and diagnose eye disease early on. People with type 2 diabetes, especially those taking a GLP-1 drug, should be aware of the signs and symptoms of vision loss and consult with their doctor immediately. These include:
Business Insider
10 hours ago
- Business Insider
Diabetes startup Omada Health finally went public after 14 years. Here's who made bank.
Omada Health just became the second digital health company to IPO this year. The chronic care company saw its shares jump Friday morning by over 38% above its initial price. Here's what Omada's major investors' stakes are worth after the public market debut. Omada Health just went public at a $1.1 billion valuation — 14 years after its founding. It's the second digital health IPO of the year, following physical therapy company Hinge Health, which went public on May 21. The two IPOs come after a multiyear drought for healthcare public market debuts. And so far, Omada's IPO hasn't disappointed. While the chronic care company priced its initial shares at $19, its stock opened at $23 a share and jumped as high as $28.40 Friday morning, nearly a 50% increase. Omada Health launched in 2011 to provide virtual care for prediabetes, making its name in the years following for diabetes management. In recent years, its business has surged in new areas beyond diabetes care. Omada's weight care business has boomed as more patients taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for weight loss seek companion care. The San Francisco-based company says most of its new employer and health plan clients approach Omada initially, interested in its metabolic health track. Omada's initial valuation of $1.1 billion is roughly where it was privately valued. Omada's last private fundraise, a $192 million Series E round announced in February 2022, put Omada's valuation over $1 billion. It's perhaps the best outcome Omada's investors could've hoped for, given that many digital health startups now looking to IPO last raised at huge valuations during VC's ZIRP period. Those valuations could be difficult to realize in today's market. Hinge Health, for example, went public at a $2.6 billion valuation after being valued in its 2021 fundraise at $6.2 billion. We don't know what Omada Health's investors paid for their shares, so we can't calculate their profit. However, since Omada's shares opened on the stock market at $23, we used that price to determine the worth of its investors' stakes. None of Omada's major investors sold any shares in its IPO. Here's what the stakes of Omada Health's major investors and executives are worth after its IPO. Revelation Partners is a healthcare-focused investment firm that says it provides flexible capital to companies, especially to give liquidity to startups. The firm first invested in Omada in September 2019, according to its website. Revelation Partners told Business Insider in an email that the firm invested in Omada through a series of secondary transactions. Omada hasn't mentioned Revelation Partners in previous press releases about its fundraises. Revelation Partners owns about 5.2 million shares, or 9.3% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $120 million. US Venture Partners, an investor: $108.5 million San Francisco-based US Venture Partners makes early-stage investments across healthcare, software, consumer, and security. The firm says it's invested $4.5 billion across 532 companies. USVP led Omada Health's $4.7 million Series A fundraise in 2013. The firm contributed additional financing in Omada's Series B through D rounds. General partner Dr. Jonathan Root has served on Omada's board of directors since the firm's 2013 investment. USVP owns about 4.72 million shares, or 8.5% of Omada Health. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $108.5 million. Andreessen Horowitz, an investor: $106 million VC giant Andreessen Horowitz, or A16z, first invested in Omada Health in 2015, when the firm led Omada's $23 million Series B. The firm went on to invest in Omada's Series C and D fundraises, per PitchBook. At the time of A16z's 2015 investment, former general partner Balaji Srinivasan joined Omada's board of directors. It's unclear when he stepped down from the board; he moved into a part-time role at A16z that same year. A16z owns about 4.6 million shares, or 8.3% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $106 million. Fidelity Management and Research Company, an investor: $102 million Fidelity Management and Research Company is the parent company of financial services giant Fidelity Investments. Fidelity has invested in a handful of healthcare startups over the years, leading rounds like now- public insurtech Oscar Health 's $400 million raise in 2016 and smart ring maker Oura 's $200 million Series D in December. FMR led Omada's $192 million Series E fundraise in February 2022. Fidelity owns about 4.4 million shares, or 8.0% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $102 million. Cigna Ventures, an investor: $79 million Health insurance giant Cigna spun out a venture capital arm in 2018 to back healthcare companies. Omada Health was one of the firm's first bets. Cigna began working with the diabetes company in 2015. Two years later, the insurer announced an investment in Omada, leading a $50 million round in 2017 that Cigna Ventures later called Omada's Series C-1 financing. Cigna also expanded its partnership with Omada as part of its formal investment. Cigna Ventures owns about 3.4 million shares, or 6.2% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $79 million. aMoon Fund, an investor: $62 million Israeli VC firm aMoon fund invests in healthcare and life sciences companies from early to late stages. Founded in 2016, it has backed a number of biotech companies that later went public, including Sophia Genetics, which went public in 2021, and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, which went public in 2022. The firm first invested in Omada Health in its $192 million Series E round in 2022. "The entire space of all these clusters of diseases that includes diabetes, hypertension, and obesity is going through a major revolution right now," aMoon Fund managing partner Tomer Berkowitz told BI. "The solution in the end will not just be based on drugs, but it'll be a combination of drugs and behavioral change. I think Omada plays a significant role in that." aMoon owns about 2.7 million shares, or 4.9% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $62 million. Norwest Venture Partners, an investor: $58 million San Francisco-based Norwest Venture Partners invests in early- to late-stage startups. It's backed more than 700 companies and manages over $15.5 billion in assets, per the firm. Its healthcare portfolio also includes hospital operations AI company Qventus, which raised $105 million in January led by private equity firm KKR, and behavioral health site Talkspace, which went public in a 2021 SPAC deal. The firm led Omada's $48 million Series C round in 2015 and put additional funding into Omada's Series C-1 and D rounds. Norwest owns about 2.5 million shares, or 4.5% of the company. At the $23 market debut price, the firm's stake is worth about $58 million. Sean Duffy, CEO: $46 million Sean Duffy cofounded Omada Health alongside Adrian James, Omada's former president, and Andrew DiMichele, former chief technology officer, in 2011. The startup sought to use technology to deliver care for chronic conditions, initially focusing on prediabetes, to patients in between visits with their primary care providers. Duffy and James spun Omada out of the design and consulting firm IDEO, where they'd begun researching the challenges in prediabetes and metabolic disease care. For Duffy, the IDEO gig had begun as an internship while he was getting dual MD-MBA degrees at Harvard. Instead of returning to complete his studies, he turned his focus to the idea that would become Omada. Before Omada, Duffy had created the interactive Microsoft Excel training tool Excel Everest, written about healthcare innovation for the medtech blog Medgadget, and worked in people analytics at Google. Duffy owns about 2 million shares, or 3.5% of Omada Health. That number includes about 860,000 shares of common stock and 1.15 million stock options exercisable by May 30, according to Omada's S-1 filing. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $46 million. Wei-Li Shao, president: $13 million Wei-Li Shao has served as Omada's president since 2021. He first joined the company in 2021 as its chief commercial officer. Before Omada, Li spent a combined 17 years at Eli Lilly managing a number of the pharma giant's businesses and brands, including its Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and neurosciences businesses. Shao owns about 579,095 stock options exercisable by May 30, representing 1.0% of the company. He does not own any common stock. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $13 million. Steve Cook, CFO: $7.9 million Steve Cook joined Omada Health as its chief financial officer in 2021. He'd previously led strategic finance efforts at primary care chain One Medical through its 2020 IPO. Before that, he spent six years in finance and strategy at Salesforce. Cook owns about 340,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, giving him less than 1% ownership. He does not own any shares of common stock. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $7.9 million. Trevor Fetter, board member: $5.3 million Trevor Fetter has served on Omada's board of directors since March 2021. He's a senior lecturer at Harvard University and the lead independent director of insurance business The Hartford. Fetter is best known as the former chairman and CEO of health system giant Tenet Healthcare, a position he held for 15 years. Fetter also holds advisory positions at multiple other private and public companies, sitting on the board of directors at healthtech startup Biofourmis and serving as a member of the advisory board of private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners. Fetter owns about 231,000 shares, or less than 1% of the company. That number includes about 111,000 shares of common stock and 120,000 stock options exercisable by May 30. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $5.3 million. Jeryl Hilleman, chair of the board of directors: $4.8 million Jeryl Hilleman has spent the majority of her career as a serial CFO, holding the lead finance role at five different companies across industries, including software, biotech, and medtech. All five companies were ultimately acquired. Today, Hilleman is the chair of Omada's board of directors, a position she's held since 2019. She also serves on the boards of cancer therapeutics maker Novocure, which completed its IPO in February, as well as public medtech company Si-Bone and public vaccine maker HilleVax. Hilleman owns about 210,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, which gives her less than 1% ownership of Omada. She does not own any common stock. At the $23 market debut price, her stake is worth about $4.8 million. Dr. Sachin Jain, board member: $604,000 Dr. Sachin Jain is the president and CEO of Medicare Advantage provider SCAN Health Plan. He joined Omada's board of directors in August. Jain is also a professor of medicine at Stanford and a practicing academic hospitalist at the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Previously, he was a senior advisor to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the president and CEO of CareMore Health and Aspire Health, and the chief medical information and innovation officer at Merck. Jain owns about 26,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, representing less than 1% of the company. He does not own any common stock. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $604,000. Julie Klapstein, board member: $527,000 Omada Health added Julie Klapstein to its board of directors in August. Klapstein was the founding CEO of Availity, one of the largest health information networks in the country. She spent nearly 11 years at Availity after its 2001 founding. Since Availity, she's served as a board member at nearly two dozen public and private companies, including healthcare companies like value-based primary care chain Oak Street Health and investment firms like PE firm Riverside Partners. She's also been an advisor to Andreessen Horowitz, most recently serving as a partner advisor from 2023 through April, per her LinkedIn. Klapstein owns about 23,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, representing less than 1% of the company. She does not own any common stock. At the $23 market debut price, her stake is worth about $527,000. Adam Stavisky, board member: $527,000 Omada added Adam Stavisky to its board of directors in August, alongside Klapstein and Jain. He most recently spent six years as the senior vice president of US benefits at Walmart. Before that, he spent 13 years at Fidelity, leaving as its head of benefits consulting. In addition to his role at Omada, he's a member of the board of advisors at marketing agency StrawberryFrog. Stavisky owns about 23,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, representing less than 1% of Omada Health. He does not own any common stock. At the $23 market debut price, his stake is worth about $527,000. Dr. Anne Beal, board member: $380,000 Omada added Dr. Anne Beal to its board of directors in October. Beal is the founder of AbsoluteJOI Skincare, a science-based clean beauty company. She's also a board member at pharma giant GSK and life sciences company Prolacta Biosciences. She previously served as the chief patient officer at biopharma behemoth Sanofi. Beal owns about 17,000 stock options exercisable by May 30, representing less than 1% of Omada Health. She does not own any common stock.
Medscape
11 hours ago
- Medscape
Novo's Ozempic Linked to Rare Cases Of Serious Eye Disorder, EU Regulator Says
(Reuters) -Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic may in very rare cases cause a serious eye condition that can lead to vision loss, the European Medicines Agency's safety committee said on Friday. In the past, studies in type-2 diabetes patients have linked Ozempic to the condition called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). But this is the first time a regulator has confirmed the side effect. The condition may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people taking semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic as well as in Novo's other diabetes drug Rybelsus, for at least one year, the regulator said. NAION is the second-most common cause of blindness due to optic nerve damage, after glaucoma. "This has been reported as a potential risk for some time, so I think the clinical community is relatively aware of it. I don't see this as making any major difference to prescribing patterns," said Barclays analyst Emily Field. U.S.-listed shares of the Danish drugmaker were up nearly 2.5% in early trading. The EMA, which started its review in December, has asked Novo to add NAION as a side effect of very rare frequency in the product information accompanying drugs that contain semaglutide. Novo said it would work with the EMA to update the labels, adding clinical trials and after-market studies did not suggest a reasonable possibility that the drugs caused the condition. The "benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains favorable," the company said in a statement. Novo has recently faced investor concerns that it is losing its first-mover advantage in the highly competitive obesity treatment market, leading the company to oust CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen in May. Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound currently dominate the weight-loss drug market, potentially worth about $150 billion by the next decade. The EMA said several large studies in type-2 diabetes patients have suggested that use of Novo's drugs could raise the risk of developing NAION by twofold. A study of nearly 350,000 diabetes patients published in March showed that the risk of developing NAION more than doubled after two years of treatment with Ozempic, compared to patients taking medicines from other classes. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether the Food and Drug Administration was conducting a probe into the side effect. (Reporting by Manas Mishra and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
