Diabetes drug Ozempic is currently experiencing supply strains due to a growing trend to divert it for rapid weight loss.
Using Ozempic to lose weight. The technique, recently relaunched on social networks, is not without risks. For several months, videos and posts on social networks, especially by influential personalities such as Elon Musk himself, have exalted the virtues of Ozempic, a drug prescribed for diabetics.
Fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food near me
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
lose weight fast
But the people who promote it don’t talk about its effectiveness against this disease. They highlight a side effect: weight loss. The success also lies in its ease of use. A simple injection into the belly appears to be sufficient.
Indeed, the drug has an appetite suppressant effect. As cardiologist Pr Jean-François Thébaut explains to TF1, the active ingredient in Ozempic, called semaglutide, “promotes insulin secretion and improves glucose uptake by cells.” By slowing down digestion, the feeling of satiety is stronger, but which one it also plunges the patient into an almost constant state of nausea.
A risky practice
But be careful. Where the benefit-risk balance leans heavily on the positive side for people with diabetes, the same is not true for people who don’t have the disease. The Hérault Medical Association has also issued a warning against this drug.
“It turns out that information circulating on social networks presents it as a ‘miracle cure’ for weight loss, which is not an indication of this drug and can cause serious health problems,” it reads. on their site.
The Parisian warns of risks of vomiting, severe constipation and even inflammation of the pancreas.
Supply tension due to social networks
And if this drug has experienced such an increase in interest, it is in particular due to its popularity on social networks, where many influencers have praised the effectiveness of the weight loss drug. In the report of the Parisian on the subject, cute, anonymous, he says he persuaded his doctor to prescribe him the antidiabetic to resolve the intense discomfort she was feeling about her weight, after being recommended by a friend: “Go check it out on TikTok, everyone is talking about it!”
In its message, the Hérault Medical Association also invites professionals to respect the recommendations issued during its marketing authorization, ie to prescribe them only in the context of the pathology.
In France, and in Occitania in particular, “the dramatic increase in the use of these drugs is currently causing supply strains harmful to the care of diabetic patients,” warns the order. In the United States or Australia, this drug is even subject to shortages.
