What Are the Pros and Cons of Weight Loss Drugs?
Nearly 42% of American adults were obese from 2017 to 2020, up from roughly 30% in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With that rise in obesity comes an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
Patients and their doctors are increasingly turning to in-demand drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, but are they safe and effective? A recent episode of the Public Health on Callpodcast explores the pros and cons with two Johns Hopkins University experts: gastroenterologist Sameer Khan of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and podcast host Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice and communication engagement at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Khan says the drugs work, but they are hard to find, expensive—around $700 a month without insurance for Wegovy which is prescribed for weight loss—and need to be taken forever to maintain weight loss and improve cardiovascular health when researchers don’t yet fully understand their long-term effects. Read on for three key takeaways from their conversation.
Good for diabetes, weight loss—and more: Ozempic and Wegovy, aka semaglutide, and Mounjaro, aka tirzepatide, are FDA-approved injectable medications developed to treat adult-onset diabetes; Wegovy and Mounjaro can be prescribed for weight loss alone. As blood sugar levels start rising, these medications help the pancreas make more of the hormone insulin. Insulin then helps blood sugar move into the body’s cells to be used for energy. The medications, also known as GLP-1 drugs, also reduce glucagon, a hormone secreted by the liver that causes glucose levels to rise in the bloodstream.
Excerpted from Johns Hopkins University HUB
