It has become a widespread notion that semaglutide drugs tailored toward the Diabetes community, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, are a fast track to weight loss, but this idea may not be supported by scientific fact.
GLP-1s is a term used to categorize the wide range of weight loss that occurs in people on these types of drugs.
Reportedly, doctors say about 10% to 15% of people who try Ozempic and products like it are “non-responders,” usually classified as those who lose less than 5% of their body weight while using these drugs. These patients don’t experience enough appetite reduction to result in the considerable weight loss that is usually associated with these drugs.
Recently, many people have spoken out about their experience of GLP-1s, to contradict everything they had expected to happen while taking the semaglutides.
Additionally, a report published on Epic Research showed that 17.7% of people using these drugs regained all of their weight and sometimes more after stopping.
“There’s going to be extreme variation in how people respond,” said obesity-medicine physician at UC San Diego Health, Dr. Eduardo Grunvald.
He added that weight gain may be more complex than just an individual’s hormone function, which is what the drugs imitate to regulate appetite, along with the fact that people’s other medical conditions could be affecting their body’s reaction. For instance, people with type 2 diabetes typically lose less weight on the drug than those without the disease.
Dr. Grunvald also said that one’s prior exercise and eating habits before taking the drug could be significant factors, as those with healthier lifestyles may not experience much change after taking a semaglutide.
According to Dr. Steven Heymsfield of Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, people who have struggled with obesity for a substantial amount of time could have a genetic mutation that prevents the drug’s potency and effects. He also noted that people with high metabolisms are less likely to see significant effects in their body.
“You could have some other drug interactions that prevent the effect of the GLP-1 drugs from working,” Heymsfield added.
With these factors in mind, it will be interesting to observe how the future of Ozempic and other now widely popular appetite suppressants will evolve.
