All answers to Ozempic and Co.: This is how weight loss injections work – and they are dangers

The mechanism that causes weight loss is not fully understood. The body’s own intestinal hormone GLP-1, which is mimicked by preparations such as Ozempic, is important here. The hormone is secreted by cells in the intestine during a meal and causes the pancreas to release insulin. This lowers blood sugar levels and delays gastric emptying. The signal that it reaches the gastrointestinal tract in sufficient quantities creates a feeling of satiety in the brain. In its natural state, GLP-1 is broken down in the brain within minutes. Therefore, synthetic active substances have been modified to circulate longer in the body.

Exenatide (Byetta®) was the first active substance from the group of GLP-1 receptor agonists to be approved in the USA in 2005 and in Switzerland and the EU in 2006. Glia was developed from the venom of the beaded lizard.

People who take such supplements lose up to 17 percent of their body weight due to a longer feeling of fullness. Because semaglutide also affects the reward system, cravings for junk food, that is, foods rich in fat and carbohydrates, usually disappear.

Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is writing an unprecedented success story in tricking the metabolism. Thanks to the development of the drugs Saxenda, Ozempic and Wegovy, which were initially used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and are now referred to as the miraculous weight loss drug, Novo Nordisk has now become the most valuable company in Europe with a market value of over $400. billion francs.

The most common adverse reactions include gastrointestinal disturbances such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, and injection site reactions. GLP1-RA may rarely trigger acute pancreatitis, ie pancreatic inflammation.

Absolutely – they take medication to lose weight. Excess weight has a direct effect on diabetes. In 2022, researchers at the University of Basel discovered that a high-fat diet changes our adipose tissue so that it can no longer regulate blood sugar.

While all medications except Saxenda are only approved for diabetics, any doctor can prescribe them to any adult without guilt. One of the reasons for this is the large number of studies that have extensively studied its effects and side effects.

No, and it will probably remain so in the distant future, at least in Switzerland, because from a medical point of view medical supervision of the therapy is essential.

Saxena is the only medicine in which insurance companies participate in the treatment of excess weight. However, this has some conditions. It can only be given within the scope of the obesity program and only certain specialists are required to pay for health insurance by issuing a prescription. After just four months, the patient must have achieved a firm weight loss goal before the health insurance company can continue to pay for six months.

Off-label means that a drug is not used for the condition for which it has been approved. In this case, it is necessary to fight obesity instead of treating diabetes. Anyone wishing to use it should find a doctor willing to prescribe it. Patients have to bear the costs themselves. They cost around 130 to 200 francs a month, depending on the drug.

If the BMI is below 27, obesity experts usually only recommend the drug if the person is already obese and continues to lose weight well with this treatment. The reason: If you want to lose weight with this BMI, you can achieve it by optimizing your drinking and eating habits, which are even more difficult with a higher BMI.

Delivery bottlenecks are evident, and according to the company, this has a major impact on the work of obesity and diabetes specialists. This is due to the high demand and prescription of drugs for off-label use. For example Saxenda is currently affected. For diabetics, this may mean they have to switch to another drug from the same or different group.

Relying on the drug alone and not improving lifestyle habits such as drinking and exercising can cause a yo-yo effect after stopping the drug. However, for those who are confident that they can finance the drug themselves for the rest of their lives, there is no harm in using it for life; but then of course they also have to accept the side effects (see above). The only valid argument against long-term use: People who are overweight often have an unhealthy diet. If they rely on a drug without living a healthier life, it will continue to harm their health, whether fat or thin.