Nosenpic?
Drugs like Ozempic were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, but the authors of the new study say they are increasingly being used as weight-loss drugs instead — and now there are concerns about possible shortages.
“This data shows that more health care professionals are aware of the benefits of these drugs in treating obesity, which is a major public health change.” Dr. Ye Hui YowHe is a clinical fellow at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“However, concerns have also been raised about possible medicine shortages and the need to ensure that people with diabetes continue to have access to these treatments,” Mr Yeo warned.
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic mimic the appetite-suppressing hormone GLP-1, which the body naturally produces after eating.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes in adults in 2017. The drug helps the pancreas produce more insulin to regulate blood sugar levels.
The agency approved Wegovy (which, like Ozempic, contains semaglutide) for weight loss in adults in 2021. In one clinical trialOn average, Wegovy users lost 12.4% of their initial body weight.
“Basically, after this drug was approved as an obesity treatment, [GLP-1 drug] “Because use has spread so rapidly, there is a loss of control and visibility into how quickly people will have access to these drugs, and trends in use are uncertain.” Dr. Ali Rezai Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Program at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Yeo and Rezai, co-lead authors of the study, analyzed the medical records of nearly 45 million Americans who visited a doctor between 2011 and 2023.
The researchers found that there were about 1 million new users of GLP-1 drugs during that time period, most of whom were white women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, which is considered obese.
Meanwhile, the proportion of new users with type 2 diabetes decreased.
“new [GLP-1] Prescriptions among people with obesity and related disorders [related] “Diseases without type 2 diabetes have doubled, and there has been a notable increase in drug use, especially since 2020,” Rezaie said.
The researchers also found that most people who started using the drug were in their mid-50s.
Moreover, semaglutide’s popularity is reportedly surpassing that of liraglutide, which the FDA approved in 2014 under the brand name Saxenda to treat obesity and in 2010 under the brand name Victoza to treat type 2 diabetes.
The Cedars-Sinai study, published Monday, Annals of Internal MedicineThe team led by Rezaie and Yeo acknowledged that the TriNetX database they used in their analysis may not be reflective of the national population.
Still, Rezaie said prescribing patterns need to be “carefully monitored” because GLP-1 drugs “offer a range of benefits but are also associated with a range of common and rare side effects.”
Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain. More rare cases have been reported of eye symptoms causing blindness, hair loss, and behavioral changes. Users are likely to stop taking the drug if they experience side effects.
The next step is to test how effective these drugs are in preventing chronic disease and reducing substance abuse, said a prominent diabetes researcher whose hormone research helped develop Ozempic.
