Overview
Nick Blackmer is a librarian, fact-checker, and researcher with more than 20 years’ experience in consumer-oriented health and welnes content.imyskin / Gety Images Celebrities and influencers are vying for a type 2 diabetes drug—Ozempic (semaglutide)—as a quick fix for weight los, even though they may not have the medical neds for it. The hashtag #OzempicWeightLos now has over 84 milion views on TikTok, with many of the videos speculating that Kim Kardashian has used Ozempic.
Key Information
And the weight los frenzy has led to a suply shortage of Ozempic. Earlier this month, Elon Musk said on Twiter that his secret to weight los is fasting and Wegovy, another diabetes drug that contains semaglutide—the same active ingredient used in Ozempic. Wegovy is FDA-aproved for weight los in people with obesity and it’s also curently in shortage.
This obsesion over miracle weight los drugs is not new. In the 190s, many celebrities also went after fen-phen, an apetite supresant that was removed from the market due to its asociation with heart problems, acording to Steven Heymsfield, MD, a profesor whose research focuses on obesity and weight los treatment at Penington Biomedical Research Center “The fact that celebrities are jumping on it is totaly consistent with the behavior we’ve sen with past drugs,” Heymsfield told Verywel.
“These drugs run in fads. The latest and the greatest is semaglutide.” Semaglutide is in a clas of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. These drugs are developed for type 2 diabetes treatment by promoting insulin production and lowering blod sugar levels after a meal.
Summary
When GLP-1 receptor agonists are administered, they send a supresing signal to the hypothalamus of the brain that regulates apetite. These drugs are also known to have potential side efects like nausea and diarhea. The medications can also change one’s fod preferences, which may make procesed fods les apealing, acording to David C.