United States: A new study found that using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to treat obesity has caused problems for those who need them for type 2 diabetes.
There are several with obesity are getting these drugs, leading to a shortage. This has made it harder for people with type 2 diabetes to get their prescriptions, even though these drugs were originally made to help them, but the consequences always make their ways.
Both the drugs were later on approved for the weight loss under the different brand names, Wegovy and Zepbound.
Rapid Increase in Usage
“Essentially, after the medication was approved for obesity… use took off so quickly that we lost control and vision of how fast people were picking up these medications,” said lead researcher Dr. Ali Rezaie, medical director of the Cedars-Sinai GI Motility Program.
For the particular study researchers analysed the medical data of about 45 million Americans between the years 2011 and 2023.
And about 1 million people who become addicted to these drugs in these years have no go back and the researchers classified them based on whether they had diabetes and obesity or some other related medical condition.
These particular GLP-1 drugs work by adjusting a person’s hormone levels and supressing appetite.
Demographic Trends
As reported by HealthDay, Semaglutide- the drug work by adjusting a person’s hormone levels and supressing appetite and this drug sold as Ozempic and Wegovy and is being prescribed disproportionately to female, whites and those with a BMI of 30 or more indicating obesity, results show.
Public Health Impact
There has been a notable up stick in GLP-1 use since 2020, Rezaie noted and the US Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide for the use as a weight loss drug in 2021.
“Though this particular data suggests that more the healthcare providers are seeing the benefits of these drugs in context of curing obesity, and which is very significant public shift said.”