VOA健康报道2023 如果要减肥, 你会选择减肥药吗?（在线收听）

The company WeightWatchers recently announced it would buy a health company whose providers prescribe drugs for weight loss.

慧优体最近宣布，其将收购一家健康公司，该公司的供应商提供减肥药物。

However, some experts worry about the use of drugs for weight loss.

然而，一些专家对减肥药物的使用感到担忧。

They argue the treatment does not include enough monitoring for side effects among patients.

他们认为，这种治疗方法没有对给患者造成的副作用进行足够的监测。

WeightWatchers is a company that sells products and services to help people use exercise and diet to lose weight.

慧优体是一家销售产品和服务的公司，帮助人们通过锻炼和节食来减肥。

But recently, the company said it would purchase Sequence, a telehealth company.

但最近，该公司表示其将收购远程医疗公司Sequence。

The deal is valued at $132 million dollars.

这笔交易价值1.32亿美元。

It is the latest business deal in the market for prescription weight loss drugs.

这是减肥处方药市场上最新的一笔商业交易。

For example, famous people have supported the use of the diabetes drug Ozempic as a weight loss drug.

例如，名人支持使用糖尿病治疗药物Ozempic用作减肥药。

But the drug has not been approved for that use by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA.

但该药物尚未被美国食品药品监督管理局批准用于减肥药。

High demand for the drug has resulted in shortages.

对这种药物的高需求导致了短缺。

WeightWatchers has 3.5 million members who pay for its services.

慧优体有350万会员为其服务付费。

With Sequence, WeightWatchers can provide members with more than just food and exercise planning services.

收购Sequence之后，慧优体可以为会员提供的不仅仅是食物和锻炼计划服务。

It can offer medication.

它可以提供药物治疗。

Experts on extreme overweight, also called obesity, say the drugs will revolutionize treatment for a problem that 42 percent of Americans face.

研究极度超重（又称肥胖）的专家表示，这些药物将会彻底改变42%的美国人面临的肥胖问题的治疗方法。

The drugs that are getting a lot of attention are a class of medications called GLP-1 agonists.

目前备受关注的药物是一类被称为GLP-1受体激动剂的药物。

Two of the most popular drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, are different versions of the same drug, semaglutide.

最受欢迎的两种药物Ozempic和Wegovy是同一种药物索玛鲁肽的不同版本。

Ozempic has been in use for about six years to treat type 2 diabetes.

Ozempic已经用于治疗2型糖尿病大约六年了。

It was approved as a treatment for diabetes.

它被批准用于治疗糖尿病。

But, once a drug is approved, it can be prescribed for other uses.

但是，一旦一种药物获得批准，它就可以被用于其他用途。

Increasingly, doctors are prescribing Ozempic for weight loss.

越来越多的医生开始给患者开Ozempic用于减肥。

Wegovy was approved in 2021 to treat obesity in adults and children older than 11.

Wegovy于2021年被批准用于治疗成人和11岁以上儿童的肥胖症。

There are several similar drugs on the market.

市场上有几种类似的药物。

Most of these drugs require weekly injections.

大多数药物都需要每周注射。

The manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, said that supply problems have eased.

制造商诺和诺德表示，供应问题已经缓解。

The drugs activate the release of the hormone insulin and block sugar production in the body organ called the liver.

这些药物激活了胰岛素的释放，并阻止人体器官（肝脏）产生糖。

The medicine also suppresses the natural desire to eat.

这种药还会抑制人的自然食欲。

A newer drug called tirzepatide, copies the action of two hormones and is said to be even more effective.

一种名为tirzepatide的新药复制了两种激素的作用，据说效果更好。

Eli Lilly and Co. sells the drug under the name Mounjaro.

礼来公司以Mounjaro的名义销售这种药物。

It is approved for diabetes treatment and the FDA is considering it for obesity.

它被批准用于治疗糖尿病，美国食品药品监督管理局正在考虑将其用于治疗肥胖症。

In medical tests, obese adults who received Wegovy had a mean weight loss of about 15 percent of their body weight.

在医学测试中，服用Wegovy的肥胖成年人平均体重减轻了约15%。

Young people who took the drug lost a similar amount.

服用这种药物的年轻人体重减轻了相似的数量。

Mounjaro is still being tested.

Mounjaro仍在进行测试。

The Associated Press reports that different doses resulted in 15 to 21 percent of body weight being lost.

据美联社报道，不同的剂量会导致体重减轻15%到21%。

That compared to three percent for people who received no drug at all but thought they were receiving one.

相比之下，那些根本没有接受药物治疗但认为自己正在接受药物治疗的人只有3%。

Dr. Louis Aronne is director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center in Weill Cornell Medicine based in New York City.

路易斯·阿龙内博士是纽约市威尔·康奈尔医学院综合体重控制中心的主任。

He said a usual weight loss program involving exercise and diet will result in one third of the group losing five percent or more of body weight.

他说，通常的减肥计划包括锻炼和节食，将会导致三分之一的人体重减轻5%或更多。

Aronne said most people find it difficult to lose weight because of reactions to eating less.

阿龙内说，大多数人发现减肥很难，因为他们觉得少吃很难。

Several hormones start to take effect in people who are eating less than they normally do.

一些激素开始对那些吃得比平时少的人起作用。

"There is a real physical phenomenon," he said, that causes the body to resist losing weight.

“这是一种真实的物理现象，”他说，这会导致身体抗拒减肥。

Drugs usually have side effects, however.

然而，药物通常会有副作用。

The most common are problems with digestion, causing stomach pain and vomiting.

最常见的是消化问题，导致胃痛和呕吐。

Other possible side effects include tumors, cancer and swelling of organs like the pancreas, kidneys, gall bladder and eye problems.

其他可能的副作用包括肿瘤、癌症和胰腺、肾脏、胆囊和眼睛等器官肿胀。

People with a family history of some cancers or genetic problems with the endocrine system should not take such drugs.

有某些癌症家族史或内分泌系统遗传问题的人不应服用此类药物。

Dr. Amy Rothberg is a hormone specialist at the University of Michigan.

艾米·罗斯伯格博士是密歇根大学的激素专家。

She directs an online weight control and diabetes program.

她负责一个在线控制体重和糖尿病项目。

She said drugs can be a part of an effort involving several weight loss methods.

她说，药物可以是一些减肥方法的一部分。

But Rothberg said it is important that WeightWatchers aims to monitor patients to make sure the drugs are taken correctly and to watch for side effects.

但罗斯伯格表示，慧优体的目标是监控患者，以确保患者正确服用药物并观察副作用，这很重要。