“Miracle” drugs for weight loss linked to serious digestive problems – PsyBlog

These weight loss medications have been shown to increase the risk of pancreatitis and other serious digestive disorders.

These weight loss medications have been shown to increase the risk of pancreatitis and other serious digestive disorders.

Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsu) and liraglutide (Victoza and Saxenda) are GLP-1 agonist drugs that have been praised for their weight loss effect.

However, one study found that these popular diabetes medications increase the risk of serious gastrointestinal disorders.

Semaglutide and liraglutide belong to a class of drugs that copy the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) to control blood sugar and reduce hunger in people with diabetes.

Despite their anti-obesity effects, there is concern about the increased risk of gastrointestinal problems such as intestinal obstruction, stomach paralysis and pancreatitis.

Mr. Mohit Sodhi, the first author of the studies, said:

Given the widespread use of these medications, these adverse events, although rare, should be considered by patients considering their use for weight loss.

The risk calculation differs depending on whether the patient is using these medications for diabetes, obesity, or just general weight loss. People who are otherwise healthy may be less willing to accept these potentially serious adverse events.

Ignoring the side effects

GLP-1 drugs are designed to help treat type 2 diabetes, but in the United States there have been 40 million prescriptions for weight loss in 2022.

Clinical trials have focused only on the effectiveness of weight loss medications and many are unaware of the gastrointestinal side effects.

Dr Mahyar Etminan, the lead author of the study, said:

There have been anecdotal reports of some patients using these medications for weight loss and then experiencing repeated episodes of nausea and vomiting secondary to a condition called gastroparesis.

But until now, there was no data from large-scale epidemiological studies.

The study used records from 16 million U.S. patients, comparing the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events in users of liraglutide or semaglutide with those using bupropion-naltrexone (a weight-loss drug sold under the brand name Contrave).

Data analyzes showed that for GLP-1 drugs:

• the risk of pancreatitis was 9.09 times higher than in the bupropion-naltrexone group,
• the risk of intestinal obstruction was 4.22 times higher,
• and the risk of gastroparesis or stomach paralysis was 3.67 times higher.

Severe abdominal pain

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas followed by severe abdominal pain: hospitalization and surgery are sometimes necessary.

Bowel obstruction is a disorder in which food cannot pass through the small or large intestine, causing symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, bloating and cramping.

Gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, is a disorder in which the movement of food slows from the stomach to the small intestine, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea.

Despite the rarity of side effects (since millions of people take these medications), hundreds of thousands of people could still suffer from these problems.

Mr. Sodhi said:

These medications are becoming more and more accessible and it is concerning that in some cases people can simply go online and order these types of medications when they don’t really understand what could potentially happen.

This goes directly against the mantra of informed consent.

Related

• Semaglutide could be an effective medication for weight loss.
• Ozempic lowers blood sugar and increases weight loss.
• GLP-1 agonists that treat obesity may also help destroy cancer cells.

The study was published in Journal of the American Medical Association (Sodhi et al., 2023).