AFPOzempic
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is investigating whether there is a link between the use of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Saxenda and Wegovy and suicidal thoughts. The investigation follows 150 the message of suicidal ideation and self-harm in Iceland.
Ozempic, as well as Saxenda and Wegovy, are intended as diabetes medication, but people seem to lose tens of kilos in a short time. The drug lowers blood sugar. The demand for the medicines is high: about 20 million people use it, resulting in worldwide shortages.
New side effect
Like Wegovy, Ozempic is a product of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Wegovy is prescribed for overweight patients and Ozempic for patients with type 2 diabetes. The company denies in American media that there is a connection between suicidal thoughts and the drugs. “Patient safety is a top priority.”
The EMA also writes in a statement that it is not yet clear whether the reported cases in Iceland are related to the medicines themselves or to underlying conditions of the patient or other factors. “The review takes place in the context of a signal procedure. A signal is information about a new side effect that may be caused by a medicine or a new aspect of a known side effect that warrants further investigation,” the medicines agency writes.
Both Ozempic and Wegovy should be injected once a week in your abdomen, thigh, or arm. The active ingredient in both drugs is called semaglutide. Semaglutide lowers blood sugar and regulates insulin, which is crucial for people with type 2 diabetes. In addition, it mimics a hormone, GLP-1, which curbs appetite by signaling our bodies that we’ve eaten enough and making our stomach empty more slowly.
On average, the majority of users of this medication lose about five percent. Thirty percent of users lose ten percent. And those results are very appealing to people who want to lose weight, but do not want to follow a medical trajectory.
On social media, celebrities such as Twitter owner Elon Musk praise the diabetes drug as a panacea. Videos of users sharing their experiences on TikTok are viewed millions of times. The Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) warned in March not to use the drug without a doctor’s supervision.
“First doctors have to look at the causes of someone’s overweight, then a possible lifestyle intervention follows,” said Liesbeth van Rossum earlier in News hour. She is a professor in the field of obesity at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. “If these steps have insufficient effect, then you can add a medicine as an aid. But that must be done through a doctor and under good supervision.”
Ömrüm Aydin of the Dutch Obesity Foundation previously emphasized that the medicines are not a panacea. “The downside is that if you stop taking this drug, you gain weight again. It’s not a quick fix, but something that needs to be supervised and maintained in the long term.”
The Medicines Agency EMA expects to issue a judgment on any unknown side effects by November.
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2023-07-12 14:34:02
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