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More teens than ever before are taking Ozempic and Wegovy, and that may not necessarily be a good thing.
a New Research Published in Journal of the American Medical Association The report found that prescriptions for GLP-1 agonists such as Ozempic and Wegovy have increased by nearly 600 percent in the past three years among people aged 12 to 25.
In 2020, the study found that about 8,700 prescriptions were written each month for GLP-1 drugs, which mimic the feeling of stomach fullness and have been on the market for decades before Ozempic came along.
By 2023, The American Academy of Pediatrics has begun making recommendations That number has jumped to more than 60,000 as teenagers turn to both weight-loss surgery and medication in an effort to more aggressively treat childhood obesity.
Some young people who have taken the hard-to-obtain drug have seen amazing results, like Tennessee teenager Israel MacKenzie. Said Associated Press He lost 110 pounds in nine months and said he felt much better about himself and his health.
but, Side effects These drugs are The prevalence of eating disorders Among young people, these stories, and the sharp increase in the number of young people being prescribed these drugs, may not necessarily be cause for celebration.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with this class of drugs is Various side effectsDizziness, stomach cramps, nausea, etc. More serious conditions such as gastroparesisMy stomach is paralyzed.
There has been little research into how GLP-1 affects adolescents, so Teens at higher risk of developing GLP-1 side effects.
Still, the idea of giving a child drugs that they or a parent can inject into them that could make them ill raises questions of consent, especially when teens are too young to understand the consequences or are being given these drugs against their will.
In short, this is a topic with a lot of nuance, coupled with the pop culture obsession with Ozempic. Memetic abbreviation for rapid weight lossBut some doctors are concerned that teenagers may be getting the wrong signals.
“When young people get the message that ‘your body is wrong and you need to take a pill to fix it’ it can set off a chain reaction that can take years to reverse, leading to a reliance on quick fixes, low self-esteem and poor body image,” says nutritionist and health expert Jonathan Mather. Lexie Penny said WebMD Earlier this year.
More about Ozempic: Online pharmacy launches cheaper version of Ozempic
