Weight-Loss Drugs Come With Serious Side Effects, According to a New Study

There’s been a surge in demand for a class of diabetes drugs that are now popular for their serendipitous byproduct: weight loss. The drugs belong to a class called GLP-1 agonists and include semaglutide, the main ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus; tirzepatide, which is found in Mounjaro; and liraglutide, used in Victoza and Saxenda. While effective in helping people with diabetes to lose about 15% of their body weight, these drugs are also linked to some risk of gastrointestinal side effects, including inflammation in the pancreas and obstructions of the digestive system. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But how common are these risks in people who don’t have diabetes, and are increasingly taking the drugs to lose weight? On Sept. 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked manufacturers of the semaglutide drugs to include a warning in the medication label about the possible risk of intestinal blockage, after receiving 8,500 reports of the condition from both diabetic and non-diabetic users. Now, in a research letter published in JAMA, scientists at the University of British Columbia provide additional data on the magnitude of those risks for people taking them purely for weight loss. They report that among 4,700 people without diabetes taking some form of GLP-1 and 650 people taking an older, different combination of weight loss drugs, those taking GLP-1s had a nine times greater risk of pancreatitis and four times highe...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news