When you start looking into GLP-1s and weight loss drugs, the amount of information, both good and bad, can become quite confusing.
National Clinical Lead for Obesity at the HSE, Professor Donal O'Shea said that all medication including GLP-1s should be taken only when prescribed under medical supervision.
Ozempic is traditionally used to treat diabetes; however, it has recently become a popular form of treatment for people with obesity – with numerous celebrities endorsing its use for weight loss.
The Irish Medical Council has warned doctors not to prescribe the drug for weight loss - and there are concerns the trend could lead to further shortage among diabetes patients.
“It’s an absolute no brainer”, Professor O’Shea told The Hard Shoulder.
“[The use of GLP-1s] is kind of exploding and continuing to explode on social media and take on a life all of its own through personal trainers advising ones that aren't yet even approved, that are still in development."
Wegovy.“If we see people using GLP-1s once in our emergency department, it's being seen in every emergency department around the country and, it's being underdiagnosed”, he warned on Newstalk.
He said the breakthrough in understanding of the disease of obesity and available treatments for the disease have been “hijacked into this frenzy of thin people wanting to be thinner, personal trainers incorporating it into exercise regimes”.
An overweight man playing badminton for exercise. Image: Kumar Sriskandan.“That's unfortunate because the positives are that it's a very good treatment for the disease of obesity.
“We are seeing other effects of GLP that are anti-inflammatory in the body, which is very good.”
He warned however that the long-term impact of using GLP-1’s for cosmetic reasons only without medical indication remained “unknown”.
“Most people using it for cosmetic reasons use it for a short while”, he told Newstalk.
“The weight drops, then the weight goes back on again. And we know historically that kind of yo-yoing in weight interferes with how your body runs its engine.
“So we would expect that to be not good for you, not good for the body.”
Main Image: A woman injecting a GLP-1 weight loss.
