In last week’s Health Tip I introduced you to the semaglutides, the weekly injectable medications originally approved by the FDA for Type 2 diabetes, but when it was discovered how many users were losing 20% of their weight, began getting quick approval for “obesity".
Both the New York Times and the Washington Post reprinted older articles and wrote new ones, praising the effectiveness and safety of the semaglutides. Definitely worth a read is the NYT reader ‘Comments’, section 776 in 3 weeks alone, one article addressing how the med reduces craving for both sugar and alcohol.
The brand names to keep track of are: Wegovy, Trulicity, Mounjaro, Ozempic. Both articles (as well as my Health Tip) were very critical of the price, $1,300 a month, not generally covered by health insurance unless you have Type 2 diabetes that has failed other treatments.
One NYT reader remarked how her health insurance would pay all the costs of weight loss surgery (including readmissions for complications), which ranges from $25,000-35,000, but wouldn’t cover the semaglutides.
With last week’s Health Tip, I received a slew of questions about the semaglutides. This always means that for every one person writing, there are ten more who “mean to write but don’t have time”.
How do the semaglutides work? They mimic a hormone (glucagon) that makes us feel full. Interestingly, this especially applies to sugar, and those foods that convert to sugar (high glycemic foods and alcohol).
What are the side effects? The commonest side effects are nausea and diarrhea which usually go away when dose is lowered. There can sometimes be constipation, so we may caution use in a patient with SIBO. Extremely rare side effects are thyroid tumors and inflammation of the pancreas, so we'd also not recommend in a patient with a history of thyroid tumor or pancreatic issues.
How much weight will I lose?
