Ziyad Al-Aly MD

Merci, Nancy! Thank you very much for this and hope you are doing great.

You are right. Best way to avoid infection altogether. Even mild infection can lead to Long Covid.

Thanks, Eric.

Thank you!

I like this idea. Will explore feasibility.

Long Covid: Past, Present and Future – ft. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly YouTube video by Canadian Covid Society

I joined Dr. Susan Kuo from @longcovidcan-co.bsky.social to talk about Long COVID — what we've learned, where we are, and what's ahead.

youtu.be/T3WD-tTFSWQ

Thank you, Eric.

GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

For your weekend reading: I wrote about what our BMJ findings mean for addiction — why GLP-1s work across every addictive substance, and how these drugs seem to quiet cravings the same way they quiet food noise.
@us.theconversation.com
theconversation.com/glp-1-drugs-...

there are adverse side effects too, and quite a bit of unknown. These are exciting results, but there is a lot more to learn.

GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

Wrote about the implications in The Conversation

theconversation.com/glp-1-drugs-...

Obesity drugs may silence the ‘drug noise’ behind all addiction A new study found GLP-1 drugs were associated with 50% fewer substance-related deaths, 39% fewer drug overdoses, and 26% fewer drug-related hospitalizations.

I wrote about the concept of "drug noise":
In STAT: www.statnews.com/2026/03/04/g...

These findings point to a common druggable biologic pathway across addictions. GLP-1 drugs may offer a fundamentally new approach—not targeting individual substances, but the shared neurobiology of craving itself. Randomized trials testing prevention and treatment of addiction are needed.

What's most striking is the breadth. One drug class, consistent effects across substances. That points to a shared biologic pathway: something I've been calling "drug noise"—the relentless craving that pulls people back to a substance, paralleling the "food noise" these drugs are known to quiet.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and risk of substance use disorders among US veterans with type 2 diabetes: cohort study Objectives To investigate whether initiation of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists is associated with both reduced risks of incident alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, opioid, and ot...

New in the BMJ: Our study of 600,000 people found GLP-1 drugs associated with 50% fewer substance-related deaths, 39% fewer overdoses, and reduced addiction risk across alcohol, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, and nicotine.
www.bmj.com/content/392/...

Postdoctoral Fellow - St. Louis, MO 63106 - Indeed.com Veterans Research and Education Foundation of St. Louis

Please help us spread the word.

We are hiring postdoctoral fellows in Clinical Epidemiology and Pharmacoepidemiology.

Details and application via Indeed.

Honored to speak at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute workshop on #LongCOVID. I am energized by our 2 days of brainstorming about the road ahead. The challenges are real, but I’m leaving hopeful. Millions living with Long Covid are counting on our progress—we must keep keep pushing forward!!!

Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back. As revolutionary new weight-loss drugs turn consumers off ultraprocessed foods, the industry is on the hunt for new products.

This story gets wilder. One of the researchers who is helping design this new generation of addictive foods is on GLP-1!!!

Wild but true.
buff.ly/40QHDnk

Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back. As revolutionary new weight-loss drugs turn consumers off ultraprocessed foods, the industry is on the hunt for new products.

For decades, the junk food industry has deliberately engineered foods to be addictive. GLP-1 drugs have helped people break free from this cycle. The industry is now searching for ways to undo the effects of these meds, aiming to design foods that remain addictive for those on GLP1. buff.ly/40QHDnk

Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists - Nature Medicine An atlas of the associations between the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and 175 health outcomes reports the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1RAs compared with other antihyperglycemic…

GLP-1 drugs are revolutionizing the way we think about obesity. It is a chronic disease (like high blood pressure), and might actually be a form of food addiction. One reason these drugs are so effective in treating obesity could be that they address the underlying addiction.

New Long Covid policy paper from Norway outlines knowledge gaps and lessons learnt for developing preparedness for future pandemics.

Section 5 (pictured below) outlines their recommendations. Led by Sara Illman, PhD and colleagues.

www.nordforsk.org/2025/knowled...

Alzheimer, addictions, dépression… les effets bénéfiques de l’Ozempic et des médicaments apparentés Les médicaments GLP-1 sont efficaces pour traiter le diabète et l’obésité. Ils pourraient l’être aussi pour lutter contre de nombreuses autres affections. Néanmoins, des effets indésirables existent.

Alzheimer, addictions, dépression… les effets bénéfiques de l’Ozempic et des médicaments apparentés

My Ozempic piece has been translated into French; thanks the amazing team at Conversation in Paris. @theconversation.com @france.theconversation.com

theconversation.com/alzheimer-ad...

Could Ozempic Protect Against Alzheimer’s? Could a diabetes and weight loss drug benefit the brain? Here’s what scientists are learning.

I talked to Dani Blum from @nytimes.com about the potential role of GLP-1 drugs (Ozepmic and similar drugs) on Alzheimer’s disease.

They seem promising, but more data is needed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...

Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs may lower risk of 42 health conditions, but also pose risks Research shows that people who take these weight-loss medications may have a lower risk of dementia and numerous other health conditions.

@us.theconversation.com piece here:

theconversation.com/ozempic-and-...

Unpacking the Benefits and Risks of the Popular GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs Our latest research, published in Nature Medicine, comprehensively maps the benefits and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound) across 175 health conditions in ov...

Substack here:

ziyadalaly.substack.com/p/unpacking-...

Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists - Nature Medicine An atlas of the associations between the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and 175 health outcomes reports the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1RAs compared with other antihyperglycemic medicat...

🚨 ICYMI: Our latest study shows that the popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs (e.g. Ozempic) have broad health benefits — reducing risks of 42 health conditions. They are not without risks — increasing risks of of 19 health conditions.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists Nature Medicine - An atlas of the associations between the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and 175 health outcomes reports the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1RAs compared with other...

📄 Free access to the full study: rdcu.be/d6VYU

New from my team: In a study of over 2 million people, we comprehensively mapped the benefits and risks of GLP-1 (e.g. Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs) across 175 health conditions.

Please share and download before it goes back behind paywall.

Happy to do it. Reach out by email please (Gmail).

Study identifies benefits, risks linked to popular weight-loss drugs | WashU Medicine GLP-1 medications tied to decreased risk of dementia, addiction; increased risk of kidney, pancreas and gastrointestinal problems

Thanks to Kristina Sauerwein for the press release and Abeeha Shamshad and Jessica Church for media outreach

Thanks to our reviewers, editors and all those supported us.

Link to press release medicine.washu.edu/news/study-i...

Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists - Nature Medicine An atlas of the associations between the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and 175 health outcomes reports the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1RAs compared with other antihyperglycemic medicat...

A lot of people who would benefit from GLP1 are not able to access them due to cost. Access issues to these meds should be solved.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mapping the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists - Nature Medicine An atlas of the associations between the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and 175 health outcomes reports the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1RAs compared with other antihyperglycemic medicat...

While I am enthusiastic about the potential for GLP1 meds in helping address the obesity epidemic, prevention must remain the foundation of our approach to health and well-being.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...