Earlier this week semaglutide
drugs Ozempic and Wegovy were
made available for prescription in New
Semaglutide originally arrived on the
market in the US in 2017 as a diabetes medication, but has
quickly been tied to extreme
weight loss.
Wegovy can be prescribed to people
over the age of 12, but many of the 65 percent of New
Zealanders who are overweight or obese will have trouble
affording it, with an estimated price of $500 a
The drugs have transformed our ability to
manage obesity and type 2 diabetes, and have shown potential
for a wide range of conditions such as Alzheimer’s,
addiction and depression.
But there are clouds to go
along with the silver linings – such as potential vision
“This condition, it occurs when there’s
insufficient blood flow to the nerves connecting the eye to
the brain, and this leads to damage,” US-based health
reporter for New Scientist, Grace Wade, told RNZ’s
Sunday Morning. The specific condition was
non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic
neuropathy.
“That can cause this sudden and permanent
vision loss, usually in just one eye. Now, I should be clear
this isn’t total vision loss, at least usually – it’s more
like cloudiness, stuff like that.”
People using
semaglutides to treat diabetes were 4.3 times more likely to
develop this condition, and those using it for weight loss
7.6 times, as people using other types of diabetes
medications, a 2024 study found (Wade wrote about it in
New Scientist here).
drugs work by suppressing appetite, which typically leads to
weight loss as people consume fewer calories. But the weight
lost was not always beneficial, Wade said.
the body to break down fat, muscle and actually even bone
for nutrients, and that’s why… some research has found
that upwards of 40 percent of the weight loss seen with
these medications is due to loss of muscle mass… that
makes it really important that people prioritise exercise
when taking these drugs because if you don’t use your
muscle, you’re more likely to lose it.”
Getting into
the exercise habit was also important since one day, most
people on Ozempic or Wegovy will stop taking it – putting
themselves at risk of putting the weight back on if they
were not regularly moving.
Then there is ‘Ozempic
“I don’t think this is a clinical term yet, but
it’s something that’s popped up a lot in social media,” Wade
“People who are taking these medications start
developing… a sunken or hollowed out appearance, which can
exacerbate fine lines and wrinkles, make their skin look a
little more saggy.
“It isn’t clear exactly how common
this is… but it probably has to do with just weight loss,
right? If you’re losing weight, as much as some people would
want to target their weight loss to certain areas of their
body, we can’t really do that. So, you know, any sort of
overall weight loss is also gonna cause a loss of fat in
your face.”
There were also side effects for some,
including constantly needing to go to the toilet, feeling
bloated, belching, constipation, heartburn, fever, upset
stomach – the list, collected
here by the Mayo Clinic, goes on.
And nearly half
of people who try it make it through a three-month course,
one study found.
Wade also mentioned a lot of people
taking semaglutide for diabetes or Alzheimer’s prevention
might be older and “frail”, so not able to lose
“Drug developers are actually working to
develop new drugs that have similar effects as these weight
loss medications, but without the weight loss.”
One unexpected benefit of semaglutide was
its apparent effect on not just calorie consumption, but use
of addictive substances, such as alcohol and
“We aren’t exactly sure why that is, but it
appears to be with how these medications affect brain
“So these drugs curb cravings for alcohol
similar to how they curb cravings for food, right? And that
probably has to do with their impact on brain regions
involved in reward processing and craving…
of more than half-a-million people with a history of opioid
use disorders showed that those who took Ozempic or similar
[medications] had significantly lower rates of opioid
overdose than those who didn’t.
“Other studies have
shown similar effects in people with cannabis use disorder,
cigarette smokers and alcoholism.”
Scientists did not
expect this effect, calling it an “unintended
consequence”.
The drugs have also shown promise in
reducing heart attacks and strokes, improving fertility,
treating pain, improving mental health, lower the risk of
kidney failure and slowing cognitive decline.
never encountered a group of drugs like this,” Wade said.
“That’s what makes these drugs so remarkable, because most
medications can only treat one or two conditions,
She said it was likely that weight loss was
playing a role – as it frequently does in health – but “it
doesn’t seem to be the only [reason]”.
But there is
still a lot of research to be done, she said, before we all
start taking it.
“Let’s unravel how they can treat all
of these conditions before we jump the gun and start
suggesting we, you know, maybe put it in everyone’s water or
something.”
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