Ozempic – how did a diabetes drug become a weight loss drug?
Imagine that you have a magic pill that will help you lose weight quickly. But there's a catch – this is a drug that is used to treat type 2 diabetes, and it also stands like a cast-iron bridge.
RISE is in touch: Community about Nootropics and Biohacking. From the article you will learn how Ozempic works, what are the pitfalls and is there any point in buying it?
How Ozempic appeared (backstory)
Ozempic is not the first drug for weight loss. For example, organotherapy (treatment of the glands) was super popular in the 1920s-1940s.
This happened in the wake of enthusiasm in the field of endocrinology and, in particular, the discovery that “glands without ducts” such as the thyroid gland, pituitary gland and kidneys, secrete chemical messengers (as they were called) – hormones. Doctors prescribed extracts of animal glands—either eaten raw, dried in tablet form, or injected—to overweight people to allegedly treat them.flaccid glands.”
This was a lucrative new market for offal for slaughterhouses.
By the way, bovine thyroid extract in dried form is still sold in the USA and is effective in treating the thyroid gland, but not in treating obesity.
Every decade, new weight loss products were created. A big peak in popularity was the diet drug “Fen-phen” in the 1980s and 90s, which contained the appetite suppressants fenfluramine and phentermine. Then a huge number of users talked about sudden weight loss. But after many people developed heart valve and lung diseases, fen-phen was withdrawn from the market in 1997. Its manufacturer singled out 21 billion dollars to settle related lawsuits.
Then scientists discovered leptin hormone, which caused a stir in the mid-90s. For a while, it seemed that leptin was the key to success in the fight against obesity.
Pharmaceutical company Amgen spent millions on research in the hope that they will make a drug for people from which they can make a lot of money. But the matter did not go further than experiments on mice. They found that obese people are deficient in leptin and are also most often resistant to leptin. Thus, taking large amounts of leptin does not help you lose weight.
Then there were a couple more attempts to create a magical remedy for weight loss, some of them were classified as drugs and were prohibited from sale.
Ozempic appeared in 2012 – the brainchild of the European company Novo Nordisk. It was created to treat overweight people and fight diabetes. Considering that the WHO has added diabetes to the 8th place among the most common causes of death in the world, with 1.5 million annual deaths, the new drug was eagerly awaited.
In 2019, Novo Nordisk received FDA approval and marketed the drug in tablet form under the trade name Rybelsus. This drug became the world's first oral agonist GLP-1 receptor.(This is a new type of drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes)
In fact, they started selling it already in 2018, it just reached all countries gradually. In Russia, by the way, Ozempic also became popular, but its main popularity peaked in America, where the problem with obesity is most acute.
How does Ozempic work?
Ozempic contains the active ingredient semaglutide, which mimics the hormone GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), which acts on the hypothalamus, the “hunger center” of the brain, to regulate appetite.
Ozempic helps lower blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes (when used in conjunction with diet and exercise). It also helps reduce the risk of some cardiovascular problems in adults with type 2 diabetes and in people with obesity.
In fact, it is a diabetes drug that has a side effect of weight loss because it significantly suppresses appetite.
The effect even goes beyond simple appetite suppression, as other similar drugs did. You just get full faster: instead of 3 pieces of pizza, you eat. It seems simple, but it is incredibly effective for losing weight.
People who use it solely for weight loss are using it “off-label,” meaning they are using it for a reason that is not officially approved.
So far, there are quite a few side effects from Ozempic – diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain. But judging by most studies and patient reviews, the effects are short-term.
Popularity and problem of ozempic
Although the drug is marketed as a treatment for chronic obesity and diabetes, its popularity as a quick weight loss drug has skyrocketed thanks in large part to social media and media personalities.
After Ozempic became known on the Internet, celebrities began to use it. One of the striking examples is Elon Musk He even wrote on his Twitter that he lost 14 kg thanks to Ozempic and proper nutrition.
They also suspected the use of Ozempic Lady Gaga, Madonna, Kim Kardashian. Some did not deny this, while others admitted in interviews that the drug Ozempic or a similar generic drug really helped them. On the topic of ozempic, the popular expression “Ozempic face” even appeared on the Internet – this is when the person in the photo lost weight in his face too quickly.
Ozempic is advertised everywhere, it has become so popular that even at the 2023 Oscars, host Jimmy Kimmel joked:
You all look so beautiful. So I look at you and think, maybe I should take Ozempic?
It’s like, what’s wrong with that? Well, the drug helps you lose weight, okay.
However, there are several problems with this:
The drug has become so popular that there is a shortage of people for whom it was originally intended. Due to Ozempic shortage in Australia, doctors have been asked send current supplies to people with type 2 diabetes who meet certain criteria. In some states, you have to order Ozempic several months in advance and wait in line to receive it. In Russia, ozempik is so very difficult to get because it is sold out at high prices or ordered in advance.
High price. In the states, for example, a course of Ozempic costs about $1,000 and is not covered by insurance, so only wealthy people can provide themselves with the drug. In Russia, things are no better: the average price in the Moscow region is 18 thousand for 1 package; 3-4 such injections are needed per month. Pharmacies deliberately inflate the price tag, knowing the demand for it. To be fair, there is an alternative in the Russian Federation, these are Quincena and Semavik, they are much cheaper.
Long-term admission. The fact is that Ozempic works as long as you inject it, the effect disappears a couple of days after discontinuation, and taking into account the first two points, long-term courses of Ozempic are difficult. By the way, this is also why it is purchased in large quantities for a couple of years. Here I remember a joke on the topic “Doctor, do you have pills for greed, more, more?”
Speaking of greed and money
In 2023, the company Novo Nordisk, which produced Ozempic, started working 12.5 billion dollars on drug sales. In Russia, the figures are much more modest: in 2022, sales of Ozempic amounted to 2.8 billion rublesHowever, we do not have an obesity epidemic.
In March 2023, Novo Nordisk stopped supplying Ozempic to Russia, but parallel imports have not disappeared. A little later in the same year, an analogue or generic of Ozempic appeared on the Russian market – “Semavik”it is a little cheaper, but judging by the reviews on the Internet, it is less effective and has more side effects.
Conclusion
Just because the history of diet drugs is quite hardcore, I would not make hasty conclusions about new drugs and how they affect the body in the long term. In general, even using Ozempic without proper nutrition and sports support will not give a really great effect. But for some, the drug really helps change their life for the better.
As a result, it turned out that the anti-diabetes drug went a little in the wrong direction, and the majority began to take it for other purposes. As the old meme goes: “The market has decided”. But on the other hand, if you have money, you are not worried about the long-term consequences and losing weight is critical, then Why Not?
What do you think about the hype around Ozempic? Who took it or its analogues?
