The risks and side-effects of weight loss jabs (and theyre not all bad)

There has been exponential demand for the weight loss drug Wegovy since it was approved in UK 11 months ago; The drug has staggering trial results of obese patients losing18. 7 pounds within a year – that is equivalent to one and a half car tires of fat. Endorsement by celebrities simply created demand for the medication which the scientists likened to the approval of Viagra in the latter half of the nineties. 
 
“I can hardly name any other disorder more prevalent than obesity which is so closely linked to body image and self-images and, therefore, health too,” Dr Simon Cork from the Anglia Ruskin University who is a senior lecturer in physiology. “Who wouldn’t want a shortcut to anything especially if those who attempted on diet and exercise will understand the complexity of it, so the introduction of a drug that is safe for consumption, of course, will be in demand. ” 
 
However, like with every new drug, physicians are still studying it. In addition to promoting weight loss due to the active component of semaglutide, which gives users a sense of satiation, a range of side effects have also been described. There has been a slashed down risk of cancer and heart issues but there are also digestive problems and even blindness. 
 
Some of the persons are buying what they deemed to be semaglutide from unaccredited marketplaces, thus exposing themselves to other adverse effects of the drugs, prompting hospitalization. As such it becomes pertinent and advisable that for anyone who feels they could be put to good use by improving their health status, source them from a registered healthcare professional. 
 
Its duration is relatively short and there is a lack of data on the effect of high doses of this drug in the long term, therefore more careful attitude is required here, Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, interlocutor of Realnoe Vremya. Most researchers are sanguine and so are the regulators in the UK, United States, and Europe for now. 
 
Blindness 
 
We begin examining if there is a correlation between shots for slimming and vision loss after doctors at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital in Boston witnessed three patients lose their sight within a week, and all those patients were taking Ozempic or Wegovy. 
 
Both the drugs have semaglutide as the active pharmaceutical ingredient; however, in different concentrations. Ozempic is approved only for Type 2 diabetes patients in the UK and some doctors use it for weight loss off-label while Wegovy has been authorized to assist overweight and obese patients lose kilos. 
 
Physicians reviewed information on nearly 17,000 patients and employed data from six years of the patients’ records. 
 
The latter established that the incidence of NAION was at least four times higher among the participants with Type 2 diabetes who took semaglutide. For those that participated in the study taking the drug and were previously diagnosed as overweight or obese, they were 7. 6 times more likely to develop PLE than those of a healthy weight. 
 
NAION is rare but present in 0. 1 percent of the population and is characterised by sudden, irreversible blindness. It arises from Insufficient blood flow to the optic nerve and the typical presentation is of a person who wakes up one day and has no vision in one eye, it’s painless. This condition is not curable, and patients ‘vision generally either does not change or worsens. 
 
The only paper that claimed a connection of NAION with semaglutide exists, and it was observational – thus, it cannot conclusively implicate the drug was Prof Sattar. “A word of caution must be made here: there is no solution in this area until more data is available; it’s not suggesting that there is no problem; it’s simply stating that no one knows and more data are necessary. ” 
 
Stomach problems 
 
Investigations of semaglutide indicated that gastrointestinal disturbances including nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and constipation were the worst side effects of the drug that were manifested in three-quarter of the participants given a weekly 2. The maintenance dose of Wegovy and the initial dose of the medication that was written by the provider in the prescription. 
 
Listen, we saw that gastrointestinal difficulties were not always very grave but we just have to admit that seven percent of the series dropped out of the trial, mostly due to stomach issues. 
 
‘When it comes to semaglutide the bulk of patients report some levels of gastrointestinal side effects, though it may only be temporary,’ confirms Dr Cork. “These are usually small and in some instances large enough to warrant suspension of medication. ” 
 
“As a side effect, people reduce their food intake and a new pattern is achieved,” added Prof Sattar. 
 
Most patients can still tolerate semaglutide, and doctors now know that when giving the compound to patients, they have to start with a small dose and gradually build up to the full dose, he says. Prof Sattar also claims patients are advised how to reduce this side effect, which include patients to take lite meals, such as soup and yogurt, increase their fluid intake, but avoid taking foods that are sweet and spicy. 
 
It is probably important to note that while taking semaglutide, many side effects, especially those that involve digestion, are worse for thin people and those who don’t need to lose much weight, Dr Cork added. Although the dangers attributed to obesity are far-fetched than any danger pertaining to these drugs, that might not be the case in acting fats who are not actually obese but want it in their lots to use these drugs to shed a few pounds. 
 
“And what is more, the struggle now is to preserve the balance between what the drug was aimed to cure – the disease of obesity – and what many in society want – to get the bone beneath skin as slim as possible as quickly as possible,” he adds. 
 
‘Ozempic face’ 
 
Though it is yet to be researched, people who use semaglutide and have experienced rapid weight loss reported they develop poor skin texture and skin hanging, which has been termed ‘Ozempic face’. 
 
Skipping meals as well as working out during the initial stages can also result lips and cheeks appearing less puffy and having sunken eyes and the general skinny face the experts have said. It is believed that slower and more methodical processes of slimming cause less impact in this regard. 
 
Prof Sattar notes that patients using semaglutide to control their weight even when they are not obese but are paying for it privately might experience this side effect because he has not heard patients accessing it through the NHS complaining about this. “People can always cut down the portion they take or stop taking semaglutide for a certain period if they feel they do not wish to have scanty skin with wrinkles,” he also categorized.

Hair loss 
 
In addition to fat reduction, some of semaglutide users have signified that they end up losing hair and undergo hair thinning that makes them develop baldness. It was cited in a clinical trial of Wegovy where its occurrence was recorded among 3 percent of the patients as opposed to only 1 percent of the placebo group and that it is not among the identified side effects. 
 
The reason behind this effect is not well understood; however, some specialists have attributed it to telogen effluvium, which is hair loss resulting from a shift in the body, for instance weight loss. However, this repulsive side effect will cease once one has attained a steady weight, yet the hair may never fully regenerate. 
 
Lowers the chances of getting cancer 
 
Obesity promotes cancer among people because extra fat releases signals to the cell that encourages cellular division and this may result in formation of tumor Among the types of cancer could be breast, bowel and pancreatic. 
 
“Since we have suggested that weight is a cause of several cancers, it would be logical that big scale weight reduction will translate to lower cancer prone risks over time,” notes Prof Sattar. 
 
No reduced risk of cancer was identified in the Select trial – the biggest and longest trial of semaglutide. The impact of the disease on the patients did not influence the rates and they were equally charged whether the patient was on the drug or not. 
 
This information is, however, opposed by other studies which indicate that the semaglutide can prevent the disease. One trial gathered information from more than 34,000 patients with obesity, and it examined people who took a weight-loss shot, such as semaglutide, were treated with bariatric surgery or received no intervention for 15 years. 
 
Research based on ASCO numbers that was delivered in June demonstrated that patients of weight loss drugs and bariatric operations are 19% less likely to get 13 weight linked cancers. Furthermore, fewer people receiving the injection died from the disease – implying that the drugs act to avoid cancer. 
 
Boosts heart health 
 
Carrying out a study of trial data of semaglutide from UCL, scientists discover that risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease is reduced by a fifth. 
 
The researchers do not think this is solely because users end up at a more healthy weight, but that semaglutide also confers additional protection, says Prof Sattar. 
 
“This presumably has to do with the impact of the drug that heals the muscles of the heart and blood vessels [there is information that it] slows the formation of the dangerous plaques which cause heart attacks,” – comments Inal. 
 
Other studies demonstrated that more people in the semaglutide group, who suffered from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – this means the heart pumps okay, but its walls are difficult to fill with blood, experienced the improvement in the symptoms. Obesity is another way through which the condition is greatly triggered. “Some of the results have really made cardiologists to jump out of their seats,” says Prof Sattar. 
 
Cuts dementia risk by half and reduces the speed of Alzheimer’s disease. 
In July, researchers at Oxford University said that semaglutide could in fact cut the risk of dementia in half. 
 
Specifically, the researchers looked at 130,000 American patients with diabetes taking Ozempic or other diabetes medication over one year, to see their rate of neurological disorders. 
 
Outcomes revealed that over a trial of around 12 years the incidence of dementia was up by 48 per cent lesser in patients on semaglutide as compared to other medicines. The team said this offered the ‘first rigorous proof’ that the drug could enhance brain function. 
 
“We know that risks that are associated with dementia include high blood pressure, previous history of stroke or heart attack, high level of blood sugar and obesity – and we also know that the drugs falling to the class of GLP-1 receptor antagonists – including semaglutide – reduce the risks of all of these,” comments Prof Sattar. “It only seems fair that they should also reduce the risk of dementia too There is indication that GLP-1 agonists may also act on the brain directly. 
 
Imperial College London-based research supplement this theory. In the study, researchers followed patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease at 217, half of which received liraglutide, similar to how semaglutide functions. A drug seemed to inhibit shrinking in specific regions of the brain, which is related to memory, learning, language and decision making by over 45 percent. Preventing examinations indicated that patients who received the treatment lost cognitive function by as much as 18 percent less after one year, implying that the injections of the treatment slowed the growing of the disease. 
 
Helps quit smoking 
 
In addition to suppressing appetite semaglutide is believed to suppress the urge to smoke – the biggest killer in Britain. 
 
Self-detected studies of people taking the drug has in the past shown that within one month of using the drugs, the patients’ interest in smoking is reduced as documented by animal experiments. 
 
Currently, the researchers, who followed approximately 220,000 patients with diabetes treated with antidiabetic drugs, discovered that the users had lower by a third chance to receive the diagnosis of tobacco dependence. The team, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States said that larger trials would be required to establish the observation.