One in eight adults within the US have taken the burden loss medicine like Ozempic, in line with survey evaluation. However greater than 30 p.c of these drop the meds after simply 4 weeks, in line with a research by Blue Well being Intelligence, a US healthcare information firm, earlier than the drug can have a significant affect on their well being.Together with weight reduction, Ozempic, which can also be bought below the model identify Wegovy, has additionally received a fame for its disagreeable uncomfortable side effects. The most typical uncomfortable side effects folks report are nausea, diarrhea or different digestive issues.Imaginative and prescient adjustments, erectile dysfunction and temper adjustments have additionally been reported, and you could have heard of facet impact phenomena like ʺOzempic faceʺ or ʺOzempic buttʺ (sagging in all of the incorrect locations).However what’s worrying medical professionals extra are reviews of extreme medical sicknesses after taking the burden loss drug, additionally known as semaglutide or GLP-1 medicine, for a number of months.ʺThe most regarding uncomfortable side effects embrace pancreatitis and the results on musculoskeletal problems,ʺ Penny Ward, a physician-doctor at Kings Faculty London, UK, instructed DW.A UK regulator has highlighted probably lethal uncomfortable side effects of acute pancreatitis — an irritation of the pancreas — after not less than ten deaths had been linked to this situation amongst British customers of GLP-1 medicine.
Unwanted side effects after medical trials ‘common’
GLP-1 medicine have been on the US market since 2017. Ozempic was first authorized to deal with sort 2 diabetes, whereas Wegovy was authorized as a weight-loss treatment in 2021.Medical trials testing their security and effectiveness confirmed them to be secure sufficient for his or her supposed customers. However since being launch to the general public, folks have been reporting new uncomfortable side effects that hadn’t appeared within the unique medical trials.Ward stated it is ʺnot unusualʺ for extra antagonistic reactions to be famous as soon as a product goes into medical use. ʺRarer uncomfortable side effects could emerge as extra sufferers take these medicines in medical apply,ʺ she stated, “merely on account of the a lot bigger variety of folks handled than had been included within the medical growth trials.ʺThis is why we proceed to watch the security of medicines available on the market,ʺ Ward added.A serious research revealed within the journal Nature Medication in January 2025 got down to systematically analyse all of the reported well being dangers of over 215,000 folks taking GLP-1 medicine to deal with diabetes.The researchers discovered dangers of taking GLP-1 medicine past these beforehand acknowledged in medical trials, together with an 11 p.c elevated danger in arthritis and a 146 p.c elevated danger of pancreatitis. Elevated dangers of low blood stress, dizziness or fainting, kidney stones and kidney irritation had been additionally reported.The research additionally highlighted well-known dangers of a number of gastrointestinal problems, backing up quite a few previous research displaying an elevated danger of gastrointestinal uncomfortable side effects.
Extra analysis on uncomfortable side effects wanted
Final yr, folks additionally began reporting that they’d gone blind after taking Wegovy. Researchers who investigated the matter discovered that GLP-1 medicine are related to an elevated danger of a illness affecting the optic nerve, known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).Whereas the situation is uncommon, affecting an estimated 10 in 100,000 folks, a research revealed within the journal JAMA Ophthalmology discovered that individuals with diabetes taking GLP-1 medicine are 4 occasions extra more likely to develop NAION than the inhabitants common.ʺThis analysis does counsel an affiliation between semaglutide remedy and one type of sight-threatening optic neuropathy, however this might ideally be examined in bigger research,ʺ Graham McGeown, an honorary professor of physiology at Queen’s College Belfast, UK.Specialists say rather more analysis is required in consultant populations to raised perceive the uncomfortable side effects of GLP-1 drug and their real-world dangers for folks taking them.ʺFor instance, [more data is needed about] these taking the drug for weight problems, who want a better dose in comparison with folks with diabetes, and taking it for longer than two years,ʺ stated Karolina Skibicka, a neuroendocrinologist at College of Calgary, Canada.ʺBut particularly, we want research which embrace girls. Ladies present distinctive side-effects to many pharmacotherapies, and nonetheless [in] most research girls are sometimes underrepresented at varied levels of testing,ʺ Skibicka added.
Advantages outweigh the dangers
Regardless of considerations about new uncomfortable side effects, Skibicka instructed DW, ʺthe record of advantages for this drug, if taken as prescribed, remains to be considerably longer and extra impactful than dangers. It has the promise of saving and enhancing many lives.ʺAs such, Skibicka stated it was ʺunlikelyʺ that the looks of uncommon however severe uncomfortable side effects can be grounds to create new, stricter suggestions for prescribing GLP-drugs.Researchers are additionally discovering stunning ‘helpful’ uncomfortable side effects of taking GLP-1 dugs, too.Research present that GLP-1 drug use is related to a diminished danger of dementia and Alzheimer’s illness. Researchers are additionally investigating whether or not the medicine may very well be used to deal with substance use problems.The January research additionally reported diminished dangers of blood coagulation and clotting problems, cardiorenal and metabolic problems, and several other respiratory situations in diabetic sufferers taking GLP-1 medicine.The authors speculate that GLP-1 medicine may affect the danger of so many situations for 2 causes: first as a result of they act on many elements of the physique, and second as a result of they deal with weight problems, which contributes to a number of well being points.
