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Ozempic may not work the way scientists believed
Weight-loss injections, which have become hugely popular among A-list celebrities, are now thought to affect users’ metabolism as well as their appetite.
The drug semaglutide, sold under the brand names Wegobee and Ozempic, is known to help users feel full by interacting with satiety hormones to slow digestion and keep the stomach physically full for longer.
“It always seemed simplistic to me that these new treatments simply involve telling people to eat less,” said study leader Professor Donal O’Shea. In a statement. “This study therefore represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of how these new drugs for obesity work.”
“The findings provide scientific support that treating obesity is not just about eating less and exercising more, but that prevention is key. Treatment is more complicated than that.”
In the study, 30 people with obstructive sleep apnea and obesity who took a glucagon-like peptide-1 analog lost weight and boosted their metabolism, with those who had slower metabolisms at the start of the study appearing to benefit most.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has previously tried the weight-loss drug Ozempic but admitted he “wasn’t particularly fond of it”.
The former immigration minister admitted taking the drug for around six weeks last autumn in order to lose weight.
Mr Jenrick was responding to rumours he had lost a lot of weight over the past year after reappearing at Westminster looking visibly slimmer since leaving government.
