A Boots spokesman said: “Wegovy is a prescription-only weight-loss medicine that can help to regulate appetite and reduce cravings.
“It can be an effective medicine to achieve sustained weight loss when used alongside a reduced calorie diet, increased physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices.”
What’s causing the Ozempic shortage?
“Unfortunately, manufacturers sometimes make mistakes and sometimes can’t keep up with demand,” Dr. Nadolsky says. Dr. Cutler agrees: “We have seen a lot of supply-chain issues which have limited the availability of these medications. I wish we lived in a world where every person who could benefit from a medication would have the choice to take it.”
How many GLP-1 medications are there, and how do they differ from one another?
There are at least eight GLP-1 medications that are FDA-approved, including Trulicity, Bydureon, Byetta, Ozempic, Victoza, Saxenda, Rybelsus, Wegovy, and Mounjaro.
“Mounjaro is a new medication which also works to enhance the activity of GLP-1, but also another molecule known as GIP,” Dr. Cutler explains. GIP also stimulates the release of insulin. “Put together, augmentation of both these molecules seems to produce a very strong effect on appetite suppression,” she says. Mounjaro has also been given an FDA “fast track” approval process, meaning it’s likely to be approved for obesity in 2023.
What are Ozempic and similar medications supposed to treat?
“The FDA has approved Ozempic, Victoza, Rybelsus, and Mounjaro for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and they are effective medications for this condition,” Dr. Cutler says. “However as more people started to use them, their benefits in appetite suppression and weight loss became more evident, to the extent that some of them have been rebranded and submitted to the FDA again as medications for weight loss, like Wegovy and Saxenda.”
That said, these medications have been also found to help other conditions related to insulin resistance, such as prediabetes, fatty liver, and PCOS, Dr. Cutler says (Metformin, another diabetes medication, is also used to treat PCOS). “Indirectly, conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and others may improve with weight loss that comes along with these medications.”
What are the possible risks and/or side effects?
One of the more concerning risks from taking Ozempic is that it could cause thyroid cancer. According to the official Ozempic safety information sheet, in studies with rodents, Ozempic and medications like Ozempic, Ozempic caused thyroid tumours and thyroid cancer.
“It is not known if Ozempic will cause thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in people,” the sheet says, adding that you should tell your health care provider if you get a lump or swelling in your neck.
As the chances of humans developing thyroid cancer from taking the medicine is currently unknown, medical professionals are calling it safe to use.
“The new class of GLP-1 receptor agonists are safe,” says Dr. Martin. “Like most medications, however, they do have some side effects that some patients may experience, including bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. When we prescribe these medications to our patients, our strategy is to slowly increase the dosage of the medication as tolerated to minimise side effects. Sometimes we even decrease dosage or pause on increasing the dosage if the side effects become unbearable.”