Friday, 29 December 2023

The Best of TODAY Health 2023

December 29, 2023 VIEW IN BROWSER

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In a year where technology became even more ingrained in the medical world, and use of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic skyrocketed, TODAY Health was there to get to the bottom of it all. Here are the top health stories and trends from this year.

🧠 A boy saw 17 doctors over 3 years. ChatGPT found the diagnosis.

The artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT made inroads into dozens of sectors this year, and that includes the medical world. A mom whose son was diagnosed with a rare condition known as tethered cord syndrome shared how her family went to 17 doctors over three years in vain before ChatGPT correctly diagnosed her boy. She inputted everything she had learned from his symptoms, and doctors confirmed ChatGPT's suggestion. Experts spoke to TODAY Health about the positives of using the AI program for medical information as well as the pitfalls to watch for.

💉 The rise of Ozempic, Wegovy and other weight-loss drugs.

The explosion in the use of Type 2 diabetes drugs also used for weight loss, like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, was an ongoing headline in 2023. TODAY Health looked into questions about safety and side effects, spoke to women about their experiences with the drugs, spoke to experts about "Ozempic face," and detailed how to eat healthy while taking them. Celebrities like Sharon Osbourne (above, left), Amy Schumer (middle), and most prominently, Oprah Winfrey, also opened up about using them. With more weight-loss drugs hitting the market and more studies being conducted, this figures to be a storyline that will continue well into 2024.

Shedding light on what life with lymphedema is really like.

One of the virtues of social media can be educating others and advocating for fellow people who may be living with lesser-known conditions. Nicole Faccio, 35, has been showing on Instagram and TikTok what daily life is like with lymphedema, a swelling caused by a build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Also, model Mahogany Geter (above) gave a look at living with lymphedema with a photo shoot that showed the effects of the condition on her left leg. "I discovered there was this confident, bad b-- inside of me," she said. And in June, in one of our most-read stories of the year, South Carolina store manager Cole Prochaska spoke to us about dealing with excess skin around his body after losing 360 pounds.

📉 Weight loss isn't always a sign of health: 3 women share stories of life-threatening illness.

While we love inspiring weight-loss stories from our Start TODAY members, three women who spoke to TODAY Health showed that significant weight loss might not always be intentional. They shared how they were complimented on shedding weight or seen in a different light despite losing the pounds due to serious illness. "There's literally nothing glamorous about my life at that point, and I'm still getting comments like, 'Oh, well, you look great,'" a woman with Crohn's disease told us. Read their stories here.