Many Canadians wish to use the drug as a fast repair for weight reduction. What in regards to the individuals who really want it?
(Illustration by Maclean’s)
As an inner drugs and weight problems doctor, I’ve been prescribing Ozempic to my sufferers since 2018. Currently, influencers and celebrities as well-known as Elon Musk have touted it as a weight-loss methodology on social media. Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked in regards to the drug’s rumoured use amongst A-listers at this 12 months’s ceremony, and in March, advertisements for Ozempic casually confirmed up within the New York subway system. It’s a traditional eating regimen craze: Hollywood adopts a sure approach after which it trickles all the way down to most of the people. Consequently, Ozempic is gaining recognition as a get-thin-quick hack. This can be a drawback.
For many who don’t know, Ozempic is among the model names for semaglutide, a drug whose core molecule, GLP-1, has been used to deal with type-2 diabetes for greater than a decade. (One other well-known model is Wegovy.) In lots of international locations, semaglutide medicines have additionally been permitted as remedies for weight problems as a result of they imitate one of many physique’s naturally occurring satiety hormones, limiting sufferers’ appetites. When prescribing these medication, docs require sufferers to fulfill particular standards: a BMI better than 30‚ or better than 27 with one weight-related situation, like non-alcoholic fatty liver illness or obstructive sleep apnea. The advantages of semaglutide could be large—improved blood sugar management, a lowered danger of diabetes and heart problems, and a greater high quality of life.
READ MORE: What’s xylazine, the harmful new drug fuelling Canada’s opioid disaster?
The worst a part of this new fad is that it might create shortages that have an effect on individuals who really want these medication. When Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical firm that makes Wegovy, launched the drug within the U.S. in 2021, uptake was so excessive that they rapidly ran out of product. In Canada, Ozempic was unavailable in some Canadian pharmacies late final 12 months attributable to comparable shortages. And fewer than a month in the past, British Columbia moved to limit sale of Ozempic to People who had been shopping for the drug from the province’s pharmacies. Then there’s the affect of the Ozempic obsession by myself follow: along with my work as a doctor, I put up academic content material about weight problems on TikTok. Not too long ago, folks with neither diabetes nor weight problems have been messaging me to ask if I’d prescribe them the drug to “kickstart” their weight reduction. I at all times reply by saying they need to seek the advice of their very own well being care skilled.
RELATED: The Large Concept: Stockpile Canada’s Medication
Ozempic isn’t supposed that can assist you go from a dimension six to a dimension two. Utilizing it within the quick time period to attain thinness might result in critical well being points. Semaglutide is a comparatively secure compound, with some identified gut-related unwanted side effects, like nausea and reflux. However when these medication are used inappropriately, these gastrointestinal points could be extra extreme. Plus, when folks cease taking them, they have an inclination to not preserve their new weight—after which they are saying the medication had been the issue. Weight biking can have a unfavorable impact on cardiovascular well being, to not point out the large psychological affect. After they’re prescribed for weight problems, semaglutide meds must be paired with behavioural helps, like diet counselling and cognitive behavioural remedy, so sufferers can obtain and preserve a wholesome life-style that’s lifelike for them.
Sasha Excessive ({photograph} courtesy of the topic)
One other drawback with the Ozempic craze is that it perpetuates unrealistic expectations about how physique form and weight are seen in broader society. I perceive why the concept of taking an injection and shedding 5 kilos appeals to so many. We stay in a tradition that glorifies thinness, so we’re at all times going to have individuals who depend on simple fixes. We might imagine that members of Gen Z—who’ve grown up in an period of extra physique positivity—aren’t as inclined to weight-loss messaging, however that isn’t true for everybody. And so many individuals who grew up within the ’80s and ’90s had Kate Moss–lined magazines by their bedside. Some nonetheless actually wrestle with not assembly that aesthetic.
MORE: This Toronto social employee is seeing a surge of tension and despair in children post-pandemic
I’ve had many discussions with colleagues about what the ubiquity of Ozempic will imply for our sufferers. First, increasingly more folks will doubtless request it for non-medical causes. (In the meanwhile, this seems to be extra frequent in america, the place Ozempic is obtainable by some practices specializing in aesthetic drugs, like botox clinics and cosmetic surgery centres.) A second, extra optimistic impact is that Canadians with weight problems will turn out to be extra conscious of obtainable medical remedies for his or her illness. There are nonetheless so many missed alternatives to prescribe these medicines appropriately. Physicians typically inform sufferers with weight problems to “strive more durable” or eat much less and train extra, then withhold doubtlessly useful medication attributable to stigma and a scarcity of schooling. Semaglutide could be the fitting remedy for the fitting affected person. For everybody else, there isn’t a fast repair.
–As instructed to Alex Cyr
