Are weight loss medications for health or thinness ? #MyOzempicjourney has gone viral on TikTok. People are calling Doctors surgeries to request Semaglutide(Ozempic) to get the same dramatic weight loss transformations they’ve seen online.
Their are various benefits and potential harms of using weight loss medications.
Benefits of weight loss medications:
The developments of medications that affect the incretin pathway, like GLP 1 agonists mimic the body’s natural satiation pathway, which helps improve hunger, decrease energy intake and improve sugar control.
Potential harms :
People exploiting semaglutide (Ozempic) off label to become super thin threaten the progress in body diversity acceptance. Medication shortages may occur for patients that have diabetes or obesity.
GLP agonists increase the risk of thyroid cancer in people with a specific family history.
Another undesired side effect of Ozempic is muscle loss. If people take weight loss medication without lifestyle changes its unlikely the weight will stay off without the prescription.
We as clinicians must check our biases so that we base our medical treatment on facts not fads.
