DALLAS – Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are gaining popularity amongst adults, who’re turning to the brand new drugs as a substitute for the standard – and infrequently ineffective – advice to “eat less and exercise more.”

As the drugs generally known as GLP-1 receptor agonists have gained a fame amongst adults, they’ve change into so is becoming increasingly popular amongst children and young people.

Um every fifth child Obesity exists within the United States, based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And prescriptions of GLP-1 have also skyrocketed amongst young people. More than 30,000 young people According to a University of Michigan study, 12- to 17-year-olds used GLP-1 in 2023.

Doctors say early intervention for obesity will help prevent later health problems, but prescribing medication to growing children also brings its own complications.

Dr. Chris Straughn, a pediatrician at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas, said research shows that GLP-1 may be each effective and protected for youngsters and adolescents, but that this research only shows the effect over just a few years.

“For both children and adults, we simply don’t know. These drugs are so new that we need more time,” Straughn said.

Wegovy, the burden loss equivalent drug Ozempic, is approved by the FDA to be used in children ages 12 and older. It shouldn’t be approved for youngsters under 12, although research continues to be ongoing on younger children. A recent study on Saxenda, a predecessor of Wegovy, found that the drug was effective in children ages 6 to 12.

This style of study is encouraging for using GLP-1 in children.

“Early intervention is a good thing, and that’s what pediatricians place a lot of emphasis on,” Straughn said. “So this can certainly be a tool.”

But there are still many unknowns.

Dr. Dan Cooper – a researcher and pediatrics professor on the University of California, Irvine's School of Medicine – said there are circumstances through which a GLP-1 prescription is sensible, akin to if a toddler is developing or has already developed diabetes. However, for other children the danger calculation is harder.

This is especially because there shouldn’t be much research on the long-term effects of GLP-1 when prescription begins in childhood or adolescence. Cooper said puberty is a very essential time for establishing long-term health, and never providing children's bodies and brains with the nutrients they need for correct development can have long-term effects.

“During this time, there is bone mineralization, muscle building, and likely changes in your brain and behavior related to energy balance,” Cooper said. “When you’re a young adult or older, you can’t do that again.”

It shouldn’t be clear whether GLP-1 use in childhood or adolescence could affect long-term development. And that's exactly what Cooper is all about.

“What is the long-term effect? Nobody knows. So my concern is that we should be very, very careful in using these drugs,” Cooper said.

Overall, Cooper says, parents shouldn't be afraid to ask their children's doctors about GLP-1, they usually shouldn't be afraid of their children taking the medication — when appropriate. For children and adolescents who begin taking GLP-1, Cooper said parents needs to be careful that it doesn’t trigger or worsen depressive symptoms of their child. He also said parents should proceed to encourage healthy eating habits and an energetic lifestyle.

Cooper had one other message for fogeys with obese or obese children: They and their children shouldn’t be ashamed.

“No one should be ashamed of this. People become obese because of our biology,” Cooper said. “Parents should understand that they should not blame themselves and that they should not blame their children for being overweight.”

©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Originally published: December 12, 2024 at 12:21 PM PST

For a moment it looked as if Cristiano Ronaldo was near tears. But then suddenly he was at the tip. The floodgates had opened and he was crying. In front of a sold-out stadium in Frankfurt and an enormous television audience world wide, probably the most famous athlete on the earth burst into tears.

And there was still one game to win to secure a spot within the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship.

It was astonishing to look at. The Portuguese captain had endured one other frustrating evening, still chasing his first goal of the tournament, and now, having been given the prospect to interrupt Slovenia's resistance, he saw goalkeeper Jan Oblak brilliantly save a penalty. The tension and anguish that had been build up inside him suddenly boiled over.

Ronaldo had missed penalties before, sometimes under great pressure. He had cried on the pitch before: tears of sadness, tears of joy. But this time it was different since the game was not over. At 39, when he admits he will probably be playing in his last European Championship, he was not crying a few lost game but, it seemed, concerning the waning of his strength. They were the tears of a matinee idol who realises that he’s facing his final curtain call.

This time he looked so vulnerable, so fallible, so… human. As Portugal's players huddled together at half-time in beyond regular time, they looked up and saw a person who looked like a broken man. One by one, they tried to lift him up. His former Manchester United teammates Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot grabbed him as if to remind him who he was – who he still is. Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha and Manchester City defender Ruben Dias did the identical.

It was remarkable that Portugal coach Roberto Martinez left him on the sector under these circumstances. Ronaldo seemed finished, barely touching the ball for the remaining of beyond regular time as Slovenia looked to have a likelihood of winning for the primary time that night.

It went to penalties. What if Ronaldo had missed again?

He didn't. This time he hit his shot the opposite way, to Oblak's right, and looked immensely relieved when the web bulged. It took courage, but his response was not smug. It was not the time for his trademark celebration. Instead, he folded his hands apologetically in front of the Portuguese fans.

Within three minutes, Portugal's players and fans were celebrating the victory. Their goalkeeper Diogo Costa was the hero, saving all three of Slovenia's shots, while Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva converted their very own. It was a rare performance from Costa, who had also made a very important save against Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko just before the tip of beyond regular time. Ronaldo, overwhelmed with relief, hugged him and thanked him.

“It was sad at first – and in the end it was joy,” the five-time Ballon d'Or winner told Portuguese TV station RTP afterwards. “That's how it is in football: inexplicable moments from the eighth to the 80th minute. That's what happened today. Did I have the chance to give the team the lead? I didn't manage it.”

He pointed to his penalty record over the course of the season – “I haven't failed once” – but deep down he must know that it's not only his penalties that will probably be under scrutiny at Euro 2024. Aside from penalty shootouts (because the record books all the time say), he has yet to attain in his 4 appearances on the tournament. Aside from a penalty against Ghana in Portugal's opening game of the 2022 World Cup, he has now gone eight appearances without scoring at a serious tournament.

Ronaldo scored 50 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for Al Nassr last season. He also scored 10 goals in nine appearances in Euro 2024 qualifying, but half of those got here against Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. With an almost absurd record of 130 goals in 211 appearances, he’s the all-time top scorer in men's international football – however the highest-ranked teams he has scored against within the last three years are Switzerland (nineteenth), Qatar (thirty fifth), Slovakia (forty fifth) and the Republic of Ireland (sixtieth).

And yet he shoots so often. So many shots – 20 in total to this point this tournament, at the least seven greater than another player. So many promising attacks and dangerous free-kicks are sacrificed on the altar of complacency. There was one free-kick against Slovenia where, even in a stadium stuffed with diehard Ronaldo fans, he will need to have been the just one who thought he was going to attain. And sure enough, his shot sailed well past the far post.

Then there are the shots he can't take, because as impressive as his physique could also be, his acceleration, speed and power aren't quite what they once were. There was a moment in the primary half when Bernardo Silva cut in from the best wing and delivered what gave the impression of an exquisite cross to him on the far post. Ronaldo leapt high but couldn't reach it, and never for the primary time this tournament, it gave the impression of he would have wasted such a possibility at his best.

But his prime is long gone. Longer than he may think. He last won the Ballon d'Or in 2017, and even by then, on the age of 32, he had turn into a way more economical player than the unstoppable, indomitable force of his mid-twenties.

Some will say this tournament is simply too far for him, but something similar was said 18 months ago on the World Cup in Qatar, where he barely made an impression and eventually lost his place to Goncalo Ramos. Now it looks like two tournaments too far – or two tournaments where Ronaldo can be higher used as an option, perhaps sometimes in its place to swap places with Ramos or Diogo Jota, fairly than a hard and fast point around which all the things else must revolve.

It was almost surprising to listen to Ronaldo say within the mixed zone after the match that this could be his last European Championship. “But I'm not emotional,” he said. “I'm moved by everything that football means – the enthusiasm I feel for the game, the joy of seeing my fans and my family, the affection that people show me.”

“It's not about leaving the world of football. What else can I do or win? It won't be a matter of one point more or one point less. Making people happy is my biggest motivation.”

What is left for him to do or win? That didn't sound like Ronaldo, especially given the scenes we had seen earlier within the evening. Of course he's right – his legacy and his place among the many game's immortals were secured way back – but his response to the missed penalty was not that of somebody who feels proof against the pressure of getting to prove himself over and yet again.

“He is a role model for us,” said Martinez afterwards. “These emotions (after the missed penalty) were incredible. After his career and everything he has achieved, he doesn't have to worry about it too much. After he missed the penalty, he was the first to take the penalty (in the penalty shootout). I was sure he had to be the first and show us the way to victory. His reaction is exemplary and we are very proud.”

Nice words, but Martinez has an enormous decision to make before Portugal's quarter-final against France in Hamburg on Friday.

Over the years, Ronaldo has often acquired the flexibility to save lots of a team from the brink of defeat, but on Monday night he seemed beaten not only by Oblak's penalty save, but in addition by the one enemy that eventually catches up with every athlete: time.

A Costa Mesa woman whose boyfriend shot and killed a 6-year-old Aiden Leos He pleaded guilty to accessory after the very fact during a 2021 traffic altercation on a busy Orange County highway on Friday, April 26, but won’t serve any additional time in custody on account of credit for time already served .

Wynne Lee, 26, was sentenced to 4 years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting, a felony, and misdemeanor carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. However, she received greater than 4 years credit for her time served leading as much as trial and her good behavior.

Lee was released on bail under GPS monitoring since shortly after her arrest. Under state law, defendants in court-ordered home confinement receive the identical credit for time served and good behavior as those that remain in local custody pending trial.

It was not a plea deal negotiated with the prosecution, but moderately a plea that Lee made on to the court. Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. King clarified that Lee had not been given any assurances in regards to the amount of her sentence before her plea. The four-year prison sentence imposed by the judge was the utmost sentence permitted by law.

Lee confirmed to the judge in a soft voice that she understood what she was admitting and the rights she was giving up. She made no formal statement before her sentencing. Both Lee and her attorney declined to comment after the hearing.

Because Lee didn’t spend any additional time in custody, house arrest or on probation or parole, Lee's electronic monitoring was officially ended by the judge at the tip of Friday's hearing.

As a part of her plea, Lee admitted to helping Marcus Erizher live-in boyfriend escapes arrest, regardless that she knew Eriz was chargeable for Aiden's death. She also admitted that a firearm – belonging to Eriz – was hidden in a vehicle she was in charge of.

Judge King found that Aiden's death was against the law of great violence, involving a very vulnerable victim and deeply affecting the boy's mother. However, he also acknowledged that Lee had no previous criminal record.

Aiden's mother was not present on the trial or the sentencing. No one spoke to the court on behalf of Aiden or Lee.

Lee's driving during a strenuous morning commute on the 55 Freeway sparked the confrontation that led to Aiden's violent death.

Lee and Eriz were in Lee's Volkswagen Golf sports automobile on the way in which from their home in Costa Mesa to the Highland auto repair shop where they worked. Aiden's mother, Joanna Cloonan, took her son from their home in Costa Mesa to Calvary Chapel Pre-School in Yorba Linda.

Lee accelerated behind Cloonan's Chevrolet Sonic within the carpool lane, abruptly drove past Cloonan's automobile, after which immediately jumped back into the carpool lane, cutting Cloonan off and checking the brakes.

A “peace sign” Lee threw at Cloonan did little to calm the mother's anger, and as Cloonan began to drive away from the sports automobile to exit the highway, Cloonan gave her middle finger.

Cloonan later testified that he saw Eriz, who was sitting within the passenger seat next to Lee, smiling. Moments later, the mother heard a loud noise and Aiden, who was sitting in a automobile seat behind her, shouted “Ow!” When the mother looked back, she saw Aiden's head hanging down.

A single shot fired by Eriz had penetrated the trunk of Cloonan's automobile, entered Aiden's back, traveled through his liver and lungs, pierced his heart, after which exited his right abdomen. The mother screamed, “Aiden, Aiden, Aiden!” as he lay dying in her arms on the side of the road.

The Mass manhunt to seek out Aiden's killer and the vehicle from which the fatal shot was fired, spanned greater than two weeks.

As commuters passed under overpasses every day, banners read “Who Shot Aiden?” California Highway Patrol investigators and other law enforcement officers swarmed door-to-door to businesses along the 55 Freeway, trying to find footage from surveillance cameras trained on the roadway were. Meanwhile, the reward for locating those chargeable for Aiden's death rose to $500,000.

Lee and Eriz continued to commute every day from Costa Mesa to Highland in the course of the manhunt, although they later used Eriz's red pickup truck as a substitute of the sports automobile.

By the trim and tires of a suspect vehicle captured on surveillance footage and comparing them to DMV records, investigators narrowed their search to several dozen specific cars, including the one driven by Lee and owned by her parents. A tipster also contacted authorities and told them that Lee and Eriz were driving a vehicle matching the outline.

Eriz told police that he only learned he was chargeable for Aiden's death per week after the shooting and said he decided not to show himself in because he didn't consider Lee had done anything fallacious and didn't need to that she discovered in trouble.

Unlike Eriz's police interview, which was played during his trial, the complete details of Lee's conversations with police were never presented in open court. But an official had previously testified that after the shooting, Lee apparently denied the crime and told Eriz before his arrest, “You don't know for sure it was you.” The officer said that when Lee was asked why she hadn't come forward sooner, she replied, that she was “afraid of incriminating herself…or that she wasn’t sure if they were.”

There is not any evidence that Eriz knew the boy was within the automobile or that he intended to kill the mother.

During Eriz's trial, prosecutors argued that he felt disrespected by Cloonan and was waiting for a probability to make use of a weapon he had been carrying for months “in the hope that someone would step out of line.” The defense countered that Cloonan provoked Eriz and caused him to act rashly in the warmth of passion.

A jury in January convicted Eriz of second-degree murder. He was Sentenced earlier this month to 40 years to life in prison.

After Lee's sentencing, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said it was a disgrace to see Lee receive recognition for his time served and good behavior “while sitting at home instead of in a jail cell.”

“The day Aiden was laid to rest in his tiny casket, Wynne and Marcus kayaked and enjoyed a beautiful California summer day, knowing Aiden would never play in the sun again,” Spitzer said in an announcement. “A six-year-old little boy is dead, and as a substitute of coming forward while the remainder of Southern California desperately looked for his killer, she helped the killer hide vital evidence after which went on together with her life as if nothing had ever happened…

“Their behavior is despicable and I, along with our entire Orange County community, am outraged that the state legislature continues to water down our laws to give criminals charged with egregious crimes one break after another,” the added Prosecutor added.