Jenna Ashkenazie
More and more people are using medications to help them to lose weight. While weight loss medications have been around for decades, there has been a rise in popularity, fueled by discussion of the topic via social media in the past few years.
Ozempic is one of the most well-known weight loss medications today, although it was never actually meant to be used for weight loss. The medication was created to help Type 2-Diabetes patients, and has FDA approval for treatment of diabetes. It is not approved by the FDA for promoting weight loss. Doctors began to notice that a very common side effect of the Ozempic shot is weight loss, and clinical trials in 2021 showed weight loss results with non-diabetic patients. It was at that time that Wegovy, another anti-diabetes medication, became FDA approved for promoting weight loss.
How These Medicines Work
Medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy are GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications that mimic the actions of the natural hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). This hormone help regulate blood sugar, manage appetite, and helps digestion. This is why these medicines were originally created to help diabetics. The difference between the two medications, however, has to do with the doses. While both medicines contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide, Wegovy’s contains a higher dose, which is why it is FDA approved for weight loss and Ozempic isnot. An article in the online publication UC Davis Health weighs in on the topic “Can weight loss medications really help you lose weight?” It states, “Prescription weight loss medications work in one or more of the following ways: decrease appetite, increase feelings of fullness, interfere with fat absorption, and target cravings.”