Weight loss drugs: how will you be affected by the Mounjaro price rise in the UK?
The change comes as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on drugmakers to increase their prices for Europeans so that they can make them more affordable for Americans.
We'd like to hear from people who use Mounjaro and how the change in cost might affect them. Have you explored switching to a different medication? Are you worried you will have to stop and might put weight back on?
You can tell us how the new price of Mounjaro will affect you by filling in the form below, or messaging us.
Please include as much detail as possible.
Please include as much detail as possible.
Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB.
Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
If you include other people's names please ask them first.
Contact us on WhatsApp at +447766780300.
For more information, please see our guidance on contacting us via WhatsApp. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead.
If you're having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
The popular supplement that could protect women from Alzheimer's disease
Omega fatty acids, found in certain fish or taken as a supplement, could potentially help ward off Alzheimer's disease in women, a new study suggests. Researchers discovered that lipids, fat molecules in the body, are different in women with Alzheimer's compared to those without. Their findings, published in Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, revealed a noticeable loss of unsaturated fats, including those containing omega fatty acids, in the blood of women with the disease compared to healthy women. The study, conducted by scientists from King's College London and Queen Mary University London, examined blood samples from 841 people, including 306 people with Alzheimer's, 165 with mild cognitive impairment and 370 healthy people. However, the researchers stressed that more work is needed to determine whether "shifting the lipid composition can influence the biological trajectory" of the disease. In the study, the team noted a steep increase in lipids with saturation – also known as 'unhealthy lipids' – in women with Alzheimer's compared to women without. But there was no difference between these fat molecules between men with, and without, a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, which researchers say could help deepen knowledge about why more women than men are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. 'Women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer's disease and are more often diagnosed with the disease than men after the age of 80,' said senior author of the study, Dr Cristina Legido-Quigley, from King's College London. 'One of the most surprising things we saw when looking at the different sexes was that there was no difference in these lipids in healthy and cognitively impaired men, but for women, this picture was completely different. 'The study reveals that Alzheimer's lipid biology is different between the sexes, opening new avenues for research. 'Our study suggests that women should make sure they are getting omega fatty acids in their diet – through fatty fish or via supplements. 'However, we need clinical trials to determine if shifting the lipid composition can influence the biological trajectory of Alzheimer's Disease.' Dr Asger Wretlind, first author of the study from King's College London, said: 'Although this still warrants further research, we were able to detect biological differences in lipids between the sexes in a large cohort, and show the importance of lipids containing omegas in the blood, which has not been done before. 'The results are very striking, and now we are looking at how early in life this change occurs in women.' Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, which funded the study along with LundbeckFonden, said: 'In the UK, two in three people living with dementia are women. 'This could be linked to living longer, or other risk factors like social isolation, education, or hormonal changes from the menopause being at play. Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease NHS 'While this study shows that women with Alzheimer's had lower levels of some unsaturated fats compared with men, further work is needed. 'This includes understanding the mechanisms behind this difference and finding out if lifestyle changes, including diet, could have a role.' People can consume omega-3 fatty acids by eating fatty fish, including salmon, mackerel or sardines, or by taking a supplement. It comes as a separate study found that children who had a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may have a reduced risk of short-sightedness. The study, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, examined data on 1,005 Chinese children aged between six and eight years, including their eyesight and regular surveys about their diet. Overall, 28 per cent of children had myopia.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Motor neurone disease robbed me of my voice – now I can finally speak again thanks to AI and an old videotape'
A woman who lost the ability to speak after she developed motor neurone disease (MND) 25 years ago has finally regained her voice with the help of AI and an old videotape. Sarah Ezekiel was left unable to talk or use her hands due to the neurological condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, just months after becoming a mum for the second time in 2000, aged just 34. Her children Aviva and Eric had only ever heard her speak through a machine, which had an emotionless, robotic tone. Now, two decades later, her voice has been recreated using artificial intelligence from an eight-second snippet of her real voice taken from a scratchy VHS tape. 'After such a long time, I couldn't really remember my voice. When I first heard it again, I felt like crying. It's a kind of miracle,' she told the BBC, using eye-gaze technology which allows her to type by tracking her eye movements across a screen. Ms Ezekiel got her AI voice when Bristol-based assistive technology company, Smartbox, asked for an hour's worth of audio to recreate it. But because she had lost her ability to speak before the creation of smartphones, all she had was a mumbled eight-second clip of her speaking on a videotape. However, the clip was just enough. Simon Poole from Smartbox recalled his heart sinking when he received the short clip. But he played around with it and looped it through the latest AI-voice technology that uses thousands of voices. It was able to fill in the gaps and predict where a voice, like Ms Ezekiel's, might go with its intonation. Ms Ezekiel was a Londoner who had worked as a personal assistant. She was married with a toddler and expecting her second child when her speech started to slow and she started to feel weakness in her left arm. She was diagnosed with MND - a degenerative condition which causes muscle weakness, with about 1,000 people diagnosed in the UK every year. The condition can be life-shortening, and according to the NHS, most of those affected will lose the ability to speak. Her marriage ended soon after her diagnosis, leaving her to rely on 24-hour care for her and her children. The mother of two battled feelings of isolation because she was unable to communicate. Eventually, after five years of living with the condition, she was able to use eye-gaze technology to type and speak with a synthetic voice, like the physicist Stephen Hawking. But with the help of AI, she now has her accent back - which she said is better than sounding like a robot. Ms Ezekiel joked: 'I was very posh and people didn't know I was [really a] cockney with a slight lisp.' Her son Eric said his mother's new AI voice has made the family closer as she can now express emotions and show when she is happy, sad or angry. Her daughter Aviva explained that hearing her mother's voice was 'amazing' and said she can now feel who she is as a person. "Mum isn't just a disabled person in the corner with a robot that doesn't relate to her,' she said.
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Women with Alzheimer's have unusually low omega fatty acid levels, study finds
Women should ensure they are getting enough omega fatty acids in their diets according to researchers, who found unusually low levels of the compounds in female patients with Alzheimer's disease. The advice follows an analysis of blood samples from Alzheimer's patients and healthy individuals, which revealed levels of unsaturated fats, such as those containing omega fatty acids, were up to 20% lower in women with the disease. The low levels were not seen in men with Alzheimer's, suggesting there may be sex differences in how the disease takes hold and affects a person's physiology. 'The difference between the sexes was the most shocking and unexpected finding,' said Dr Cristina Legido-Quigley, a senior author on the study at King's College London published in the Alzheimer's & Dementia journal. 'There's an indication that having less of these compounds could be causal in Alzheimer's, but we need a clinical trial to confirm that.' Alzheimer's disease is twice as common in women as in men. Factors including women's longer average lifespan, differences in hormones, immune responses and educational opportunities can all play a role in the development of the disease. In the latest study, researchers analysed the levels of lipids, which are fatty compounds, in the blood of 306 people with Alzheimer's, 165 people with mild cognitive impairment and 370 people who were cognitively healthy controls. Lipids can be saturated or unsaturated, with the former considered unhealthy and the latter broadly healthy. Women with Alzheimer's disease had higher levels of saturated lipids and lower levels of unsaturated lipids than cognitively healthy women, a pattern not seen in men. Legido-Quigley said that if changes in the liver or metabolism were responsible, less omega fatty acids would probably be reaching women's brains. 'And these lipids feed the brain,' she added. Diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as the Mediterranean diet, have long been linked to health benefits for the heart, brain and other organs. One study from 2022 found that middle-aged people with higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had better cognitive function than others. Several trials have found that giving older people omega-3 supplements did not improve their cognitive function or boost mental capacity in those already diagnosed with dementia. Legido-Quigley wants to see a clinical trial established to test whether supplements can delay Alzheimer's disease specifically in women with low levels of unsaturated fatty acids, adding that the drop may start to appear when women are in their 50s. In the meantime, she said women should ensure they are getting omega fatty acids in their diets. There are three essential omega-3 fatty acids, known as ALA, DHA and EPA. ALA is found in plant-based foods such as chia seeds, flaxseed and walnuts. DHA and EPA primarily come from fish. The NHS recommends eating two 140g servings of fish a week, with one being an oily fish, to get enough DHA and EPA. Dr Julia Dudley at Alzheimer's Research UK, which co-funded the study, said more work was needed to unpick the mechanisms behind the sex difference and discover whether lifestyle changes, including diet, could have a role in preventing the disease. 'Understanding how the disease works differently in women could help doctors tailor future treatments and health advice,' she added.
