They have been heralded as the miracle cure for weight loss, but doctors are warning millions of patients not to lose fat while taking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.
Obesity experts have warned that around 20 percent of patients do not respond well to the drugs.
About 31 million Americans have used weight-loss medications at some point, meaning millions of people are “non-responders” and don’t reap the intended benefits.
Experts say this is especially concerning given the price of the drugs (more than $800 for a month’s supply without insurance) and the fact that many people must take them for life to avoid regaining lost weight.
Still, the Biden administration this week announced plans to expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage to include these drugs.
Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are all injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists, and they work by imitating a hormone in the body that controls the speed that food is processed in the intestines, slowing this process. This reduces appetite and helps people eat less.
In clinical trials, most people taking the anti-obesity drugs lost an average of 15 to 22 percent of their body weight.
However, recent research suggests that non-responders are far behind the average loss, losing only five percent of their body weight.
Other people have difficulty losing weight with the help of the medications. Comedian Tracy Morgan said that despite initial appetite changes, he ‘ate’ Ozempic and gained 40 pounds while on the drug
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Scientists don’t know exactly what happens in non-responders, but think it has to do with the body’s unique biology.
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Associated Press obesity rates vary drastically from patient to patient, and doctors warn that people shouldn’t expect the same dramatic results as some of their favorite celebrities.
Obesity is influenced by genetics, hormones and how a person’s brain functions and regulates body processes.
Dr. Stanford said: ‘It’s about explaining that different people have different reactions. This is a disease that originates from the brain. The dysfunction may not be the same (from patient to patient).”
Underlying conditions can also affect how a person responds to these medications, Dr. Gitanjali Srivastava, an obesity specialist at Vanderbilt University, previously told Dailymail.com.
Dr. Srivastava said, “Often these patients have very complicated conditions.
“There are a lot of factors going on, including probably very strong genetics that play a role.”
This includes common complications such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and hypothyroidism – two conditions that affect weight gain – which affect an estimated 5 million and 29 million Americans, respectively.
Comedian Tracy Morgan56, shared in the spring of 2024 that he “ate” Ozempic, and actually gained 40 pounds while taking the drug.
And James Corden said, “I tried Ozempic, and if you look at me now, you won’t be surprised that it didn’t really work.”
James Corden admitted to using Ozempic, but said ‘it didn’t really work’
He continued, “I tried for a while and then I realized I was like, ‘Oh no, nothing about my food has anything to do with being hungry.’
‘All it does is make you not hungry anymore. But I eat very rarely (just because I’m hungry).”
Kandi Buress also said she tried Ozempic last year but didn’t lose any weight.
she said on PageSix’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast: ‘My doctor said, “I don’t know what the problem is. I don’t see this in other people.”
‘It didn’t curb my appetite. I know some people say, “Oh, I can’t eat.” Not me. I was eating snacks, a regular meal and dessert, okay? It hasn’t stopped anything for me.’
And many social media users shared similar stories, with one person saying he gained 13 pounds while taking a weight-loss drug.
TikTok user Shelly said the medication wasn’t working for her, so she increased it to the highest dose for five months but still saw no results.
Even people who respond initially increasingly report that when they stop taking the drug, their weight returns.
Of the many GLP-1 medications that have hit the market, Wegovy and Zepound are designed specifically for weight loss. Ozempic, Mounjaro and Trulicity were originally designed to treat diabetes, but are sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat patients off-label
An April 2022 study found that when some people stop taking the drug, they regain two-thirds of their original body weight.
Additionally, side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and depression cause users to discontinue the medications.
Then there are more rare, serious conditions.
About one in 100 GLP-1 users develops a condition called gastroparesis: gastric paralysis. This can cause stomach pain, vomiting, nausea, bloating, constipation and loss of appetite.
Over time, a backup of stomach contents can lead to severe dehydration, malnutrition and blockages in the digestive tract. Yale School of Medicine.
If someone begins to show signs of this condition, their doctor may recommend tapering off the GLP-1 drug.
If someone has a bad reaction to one of these medications but still wants to try taking the medication, doctors sometimes prescribe a different brand.
Some of these contain different active ingredients and others have different dosages or side effects.
So while the drugs show promise for a large number of people, mounting evidence shows that they are not necessarily a miracle cure.