The Girls in the Desert show will mark its 156th season on Saturday. The topic of the conversation will be the new weight-loss craze gaining traction on social media.
The drug Ozempic was originally used to treat type 2 diabetes, but more recently, it has been prescribed to many people for weight control.
“I think it's a really great drug and they have a good safety profile. They do have side effects, but if you can get over that, I think the benefits really outweigh the big benefits for patients most of the time. Some risks,” says Rachel Millard, director of the Desert Care Network Weight Management Center.
The drug, sold under the brands Ozempic and Wegovy among others, was originally created to help treat type 2 diabetes but has had great success in helping with weight loss.
The drugs themselves work by stimulating hormones to suppress hunger and appetite.
The drug craze started about a year ago.
“What really spiked was about a year ago when a third drug, Mounjaro, was just approved and it was only approved for type 2 diabetes, but as we learned more about the science and saw such good results, we kept challenging It brings all this awareness.”
For those who take drugs to lose a few extra pounds, the medical expert said, “So these drugs are not for everyone, they are not for people who need to lose 5 or 10 pounds, they need to match their weight and their body weight. Height, we use their BMI for that … and most of the time, they also need to have some sort of health risk,” Millard said.
The injection is still available to help treat diabetics whose blood sugar is uncontrolled.
Both men and women have seen tremendous results from using it.
“We're very fortunate to have a drug that has a lot of benefits to it, and we can give that drug to people. So we've seen incredible results for people who need it and are eligible, we're seeing Overall weight loss of 15% to 20%.”
People who take the drug must take it long-term or the weight and health will return.
“We're trying to essentially make processes that your body is already going through more efficient. We're seeing fewer interactions with previous drugs, so we're seeing better results. And we're also seeing, It is an overall safer drug for patients.”
For more information, Rachel Millard will be discussing weight loss management tomorrow afternoon on The Girl in the Desert.
