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DZD Scientist Birkenfeld on "Hirschhausen and the Weight Loss Injection"

"Many who need it, don't get it. Many who don't need it take it. How does the so-called 'weight loss injection' work? And does it really help against obesity?" - These questions were examined in Eckart Hirschhausen's show, which was broadcast on ARD on April 8. DZD speaker Prof. Andreas Birkenfeld supervised Hirschhausen's self-experiment on fat and sugar metabolism as an expert.

fr.l.: Prof. Andreas Birkenfeld and Eckart von Hischhausen. © Marcel Katz for WDR

In order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the so-called "weight loss injection", Eckart von Hirschhausen visited a therapy group for people with eating disorders, the backstage area of comedian Nicole Jäger and underwent a medically supervised self-experiment. For five days, he ate all kinds of fatty and sugary foods in addition to his normal meals and was examined before and after by the team of Prof. Birkenfeld and Prof. Kullmann at Tübingen University Hospital. He commented vividly on the images of his worsened blood values and the MRI results and discussed the outcomes with Andreas Birkenfeld.

The broadcast is available until April 8, 2029 in the ARD Mediathek (German only).
 


On the bench (from left) Prof. Andreas Birkenfeld and Eckart von Hirschhausen during the shooting. © Marcel Katz for WDR
 


Prof. Stephanie Kullmann explains the experiment to Eckart von Hirschhausen. © Marcel Katz for WDR