How Does Ozempic Affect People With Eating Disorders?
LP-1 drugs such as Ozempic have, in three short years, changed our attitudes to the body. They’ve revived a cultural fervor for thinness that has been blamed for everything from the closure of wine barsto killing off the body positivity movement. What began as a seeming miracle drug posited to help those most in need of losing weight for health reasons has led to a clamor in which one in eight Americans have tried the drugs and telehealth companies have offered cheaper off-brand versions with very little oversight.
Ozempic (the brand name for semaglutide) and other GLP-1s mimic a natural hormone in the body, stimulating insulin and slowing the rate of stomach emptying after eating, increasing one’s sense of fullness. But the very qualities that make GLP-1s such powerful tools for weight loss also make them potentially dangerous for those who struggle to adequately feed themselves.
Some healthcare specialists say that an injection enabling people to eat dramatically fewer calories in a day resembles nothing less than a drug-induced – or at least, a drug-encouraged – eating disorder. Dr Kimberly Dennis, a psychiatrist and expert on eating disorders in the US, is quoted as saying: “These drugs are rocket fuel for people with eating disorders.” Another doctor told Bloomberg News directly that they had seen patients with “drug-induced” anorexia. For people who are prone to anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders, easy access to GLP-1s is causing alarm.
Excerpted from the Guardian
