A scientist whose work in the 1970s helped pioneer weight-loss drugs like Ozempic has warned that people will struggle to take it for more than a few years because it takes the pleasure out of eating. “Once you’ve been on this for a year or two, life is so miserably boring that you can’t stand it any longer and you have to go back to your old life,” Professor Jens Juul Holst said in an interview with Wired.
Over the last few months, Semaglutide – sold under branded names Ozempic and Wegovy, among others – has come to dominate the cultural conversation thanks to its off-label use as a weight-loss drug. The medication originally created to treat diabetes by regulating blood sugar levels, has also been found to greatly suppress one’s appetite and slow the rate at which the stomach empties. This has meant it’s become very popular among people looking to lose weight, and words like ‘miracle’, ‘revolutionary’, ‘silver bullet’ and ‘holy grail’ are being thrown around when talking about the drug. According to some reports, there is mass usage of the drug in Hollywood, Manhattan and it’s now apparently making its way through Westminster.
Holst, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, first began researching GLP-1, the hunger-regulating hormone which is mimicked by Semaglutide, in the 1970s. It was his work developing treatments around GLP-1 that directly led to the creation of Semaglutide, although initially the scientists were working on cures for duodenal ulcer disease before realizing it had benefits for people with diabetes and then for weight loss and obesity.
Semaglutide is not without its side effects, however. Nausea, dizziness, constipation, vomiting and diarrhoea often come as part of the package, while patients have also reported hair loss and a gaunt face – “Ozempic face” – as a result of rapid weight loss. Renal failure, pancreatitis and intestinal obstruction might develop in rare cases. Alongside this, according to Professor Holst, is a loss of joy when it comes to food. “What happens is that you lose your appetite and also the pleasure of eating, and so I think there’s a price to be paid when you do that. If you like food, then that pleasure is gone,” he warned.
Over the last few months, Semaglutide – sold under branded names Ozempic and Wegovy, among others – has come to dominate the cultural conversation thanks to its off-label use as a weight-loss drug. The medication originally created to treat diabetes by regulating blood sugar levels, has also been found to greatly suppress one’s appetite and slow the rate at which the stomach empties. This has meant it’s become very popular among people looking to lose weight, and words like ‘miracle’, ‘revolutionary’, ‘silver bullet’ and ‘holy grail’ are being thrown around when talking about the drug. According to some reports, there is mass usage of the drug in Hollywood, Manhattan and it’s now apparently making its way through Westminster.
Holst, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, first began researching GLP-1, the hunger-regulating hormone which is mimicked by Semaglutide, in the 1970s. It was his work developing treatments around GLP-1 that directly led to the creation of Semaglutide, although initially the scientists were working on cures for duodenal ulcer disease before realizing it had benefits for people with diabetes and then for weight loss and obesity.
Semaglutide is not without its side effects, however. Nausea, dizziness, constipation, vomiting and diarrhoea often come as part of the package, while patients have also reported hair loss and a gaunt face – “Ozempic face” – as a result of rapid weight loss. Renal failure, pancreatitis and intestinal obstruction might develop in rare cases. Alongside this, according to Professor Holst, is a loss of joy when it comes to food. “What happens is that you lose your appetite and also the pleasure of eating, and so I think there’s a price to be paid when you do that. If you like food, then that pleasure is gone,” he warned.
