2023-05-02 09:51:18
Despite their best efforts, some people who are overweight or obese cannot get rid of unwanted kilograms. Although they pay close attention to what they eat and exercise more, this does not tip the balance in their favour.
This is very frustrating, especially if excess body fat is causing or exacerbating serious health problems, such as diabetes. In addition to their interest in changing their lifestyle, they can now resort to using new anti-obesity drugs, some of which are by self-injection.
The European Medicines Agency, in describing the effect of an anti-obesity drug, states that it regulates appetite, increases satiety and reduces hunger.
A number of these drugs have caused a stir on social media in recent months, in part because many celebrities and influencers have said they have lost weight with them. And the American billionaire, Elon Musk, said late last year, in response to a comment on Twitter regarding losing weight, that he was able to achieve this by resorting to fasting and using “Wegovi”.
The scientific name of the drug is “simaglutide”, and it is manufactured by the Danish multinational pharmaceutical company “Novo Nordisk”. It was approved in the United States, under the brand name “Ozambik”, to treat adults with type 2 diabetes in 2017, and then in the European Union in 2018. The drug lowers blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c (glucose-capped hemoglobin in red blood cells). In the blood, in addition to lowering the levels that reduce the complications of diabetes.
And because an increasing number of people without diabetes in the United States are getting the drug through special injection pens for weight loss, the drug has become a hot topic elsewhere too, such as Germany.
For his part, Dr. Stefan Petersen, a spokesman for the German Society for Endocrinology, says: “More and more of my patients are asking me regarding it (the drug).”
Wegovi, a higher-dose version of Ozambik, was approved in the United States in 2021 as a weight-loss treatment for adults who are obese (body mass index of 30 or greater), or adults who are overweight. Poorly overweight (BMI 27+) and having at least one illness related to being overweight, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. And in early 2022, the European Union also approved the drug for weight loss and control. However, the drug is still not available in Germany.
The data collected so far is positive. In a study published in 2021 in The New England Journal of Medicine, 1961 adults without diabetes, with a body mass index of 30 + or 27 +, and with at least one disease associated with being overweight, received either semaglutide. under the skin once a week, or on a placebo for a period of 68 weeks. It is a substance given to the patient with the aim of treating it, and it does not have a real effect in treating the specific disease, but it is used to delude the patient psychologically that this treatment he is taking brings healing to his disease.
Added to this is a reduced-calorie diet and a more active lifestyle. The group that was getting semaglutide lost an average of 14.9% of their body weight, compared to 2.4% in the placebo group.
It is noteworthy that «Simaglutide» is not the only drug for overcoming obesity on the market. However, other medications must be taken from one to three times a day, according to the study. According to the German Society of Endocrinology, among all the drugs currently approved in terms of its active substance, “simaglutide” is the most effective for weight loss.
Although this sounds promising, experts see practical hurdles and warn of its risks and side effects, and of “unapproved and unsupervised use by the licensing authorities,” according to the German Society of Endocrinology.
And while access to the drug “Wegovi” is still not available, some who want to lose weight resort instead to using the drug “Ozambik”, which has not yet obtained a permit.
And Dr. Stefan Petersen says that in order to obtain the effect of the drug “Wigovy”, its users must obtain doses of the drug “semaglutide” higher than those recommended for the drug “Ozambik”.
The cost of the drug can range from regarding 80 to 200 euros per week (between $88 and $219), depending on the dose used.
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