• Semaglutide, bought beneath model names Ozempic and Wegovy, is a game-changing diabetes and weight-loss drug. 
• It additionally comes with uncomfortable side effects for some individuals, together with an absence of curiosity in meals. 
• A scientist advised Wired that he thinks it will trigger individuals to cease taking the drug inside 1 to 2 years. 

Semaglutide, and its brand-name varieties Ozempic and Wegovy, are being hailed as miracle medicine for sort 2 diabetes and weight reduction. The medicine, a brand new class of medicines that mimic a hunger-regulating hormone referred to as GLP-1, have exploded in recognition since individuals realized that they’ll make you are feeling full for longer by regulating starvation indicators within the mind. 

That is not all — proof is mounting that these medicine may be sport changers for dependancy, coronary heart well being, despair, and even most cancers. 

So, what is the catch? Effectively, they arrive with a bunch of uncomfortable side effects for some sufferers that vary from uncontrollable diarrhea to being downright disgusted by meals. And a scientist who helped create the medicine advised science journal Wired that these uncomfortable side effects would possibly make it arduous for sufferers to proceed taking the medicine for greater than a few years, which may result in regaining weight.

Semaglutide would possibly make life “miserably boring”

Many individuals take pleasure in consuming — not simply the style of meals, but additionally the social facet of interacting with household and mates across the dinner desk. When meals cravings go away due to semaglutide, life can get a lot much less pleasant, one scientist mentioned. Jens Juul Holst, a professor within the Division of Biomedical Sciences on the College of Copenhagen in Denmark, has been concerned with researching GLP-1 medicine for the reason that Seventies. In an interview with Wired, Holst mentioned that there is a “worth to be paid” when taking semaglutide. 

“As soon as you’ve got been on this for a 12 months or two, life is so miserably boring that you could’t stand it any longer and have to return to your outdated life,” he advised Wired. 

A 2020 research discovered that 70% of sufferers who took GLP-1 medicine for sort 2 diabetes stopped taking them inside two years — although adherence to the drug hasn’t been studied particularly for weight reduction. 

One cause, Holst hypothesized, is due to the shortage of curiosity in meals. However in the end, he advised Wired, “We do not know why individuals cease taking these medicine, however we all know for a undeniable fact that they do cease.”

Semaglutide must be taken long run to be efficient

This can be a drawback as a result of sufferers want to remain on semaglutide to maintain their weight reduction. A 2022 research discovered  that after sufferers cease taking the remedy, they begin gaining weight once more. 

This has led to some individuals taking smaller “upkeep doses” of the medicines, although this has not but been studied as an efficient apply. 

So whereas some medical doctors and insurance coverage corporations are involved a few future the place thousands and thousands of People are on these medicine without end, Holst advised Wired he would not suppose that is going to be a difficulty. “I do not see that a large a part of the inhabitants will likely be placed on Wegovy and can keep on Wegovy for the remainder of their lives,” he mentioned, “I merely do not see that image, as a result of this hasn’t occurred with different GLP-1 medicine.”