There are TikTok hashtags with millions of followers, endless columns about celebrity waistlines, and a flurry of media coverage when test results come out. It is rare for a new drug to receive so much attention. However, it is even more rare for approved drugs to cause safe and rapid weight loss with minimal effort.
A year ago, most people had never heard of semaglutide. Semaglutide is a drug developed about 10 years ago under the brand name Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes. It was later approved as a weight loss aid in the US in 2021 under the name Wegovy. With this drug, people can lose a whopping 15% of their body weight.
The impact of this new class of medicines could be unprecedented and could end the world's growing obesity epidemic. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” he says. Jonathan Campbell At Duke University in North Carolina, he studies how these drugs affect the body.
First, Wegovy was just the beginning. The next generation of these drugs is in development and will be cheaper, easier to use, and, importantly, even more powerful. Additionally, new evidence suggests that Wegovy and its similar products are more effective when given at a younger age, so doctors are considering their use in teenagers and young children. This increases the possibility of switching from obesity treatment to prevention. “Over the past 40 years, we have seen the obesity landscape change dramatically,” Campbell says. “Now we may be at a tipping point where that goes backwards.”
Why is obesity on the rise?
The rise in obesity has been occurring since the 1970s…
Source: www.newscientist.com
