United States: The skyrocketed usage and popularity of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic in the treatment of obesity has resulted in a bust regarding the drugs’ original purpose, which was to treat Type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study.
More about the news
More recent purchases of these drugs are twice as prevalent in people with obesity but without diabetes, researchers established.
This has led to a shortage in the drug supply and a drop in new prescriptions for Type 2 diabetes, although Ozempic and Mounjaro were originally developed as diabetes drugs, as the researchers mentioned.
Furthermore, both of the drugs got later approval for weight loss as well under brand names, namely Wegovy and Zepbound.
As per Dr. Ali Rezaie, the lead researcher and medical director of the Cedars-Sinai GI Motility Program, “Essentially, after the medication was approved for obesity… use took off so quickly that we lost control and vision of how fast people were picking up these medications,” as upi.com reported.
How was the study conducted?
To conduct the study, the researchers examined almost 45 million Americans between 2011 and 2023.
The researchers found that almost one million people became new users of GLP-1 in the meantime. They were classified based on their underlying conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, or some other related medical condition.
As the experts reveal, GLP-1 drugs perform the task by adjusting an individual’s hormonal levels, thereby suppressing appetite.
Findings of the study
The study reveals that semaglutide marketed under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy is being prescribable in a biased manner to female patients who are White patients with a BMI equal to or more than 30 to denote obesity.
The findings were published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Rezaie added that there has been increased use of GLP-1 since 2020, specifically in applying GLP-1 agonist agents.
He observed that the trend has improved since 2020. In 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended and authorized semaglutide as a weight-reducing medication.
Comments by the researchers
According to the lead researchers, Dr. Yee Hui Yeo, a clinical fellow in the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said, “This data suggests that more healthcare providers are seeing the benefits of these medications for treating obesity, which is a significant public health shift,” as upi.com reported.
“However, it also raises concerns about potential medication shortages and the need to ensure that patients with diabetes still have access to these treatments,” Yeo added, as a Cedars-Sinai news release reported.