Popular celebrity weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic could have a serious side effect, in line with researchers in China.
In a study set to look within the monthly journal Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, researchers consider that there may be an “increased risk” of intestinal obstruction when taking those medications.
The drugs are made up of the peptide semaglutide, a derivative of GLP-1, a hormone derived from the small intestine.
It’s the hormone that semaglutide mimics, and it makes you are feeling fuller for longer by slowing down digestion, which results in weight reduction.
Although this medicine could be helpful for treating diseases reminiscent of obesity and sort 2 diabetes by lowering an individual’s glucose levels and promoting weight reduction, concern has been raised a couple of potential unwanted side effect.
“While their efficacies and safety profiles are widely accepted, long-term antagonistic events reminiscent of increased risk of intestinal obstruction have been reported in diabetic patients, which is 4.5 times higher than those receiving other glucose control medications,” the researchers wrote concerning the medicine.
“An actual-world study of 25,617 subjects demonstrated a 3.5-fold increase within the intestinal obstruction rate related to GLP-1RA treatment,” the researchers also noted.
The Post reached out to the drugs’s manufacturer, Novo Norodisk, for comment.
The students also cited two studies of their research that showed a correlation between GLP-1 and intestinal issues — one published in 2020, the opposite in 2022.
Nevertheless, they were observational in nature and will not confirm a direct relation.
An intestinal obstruction occurs when there’s a blockage that forestalls food or liquid from moving through your small or large intestine, in line with the Mayo Clinic.
If it’s left untreated, it could actually cause those parts of the intestine that were blocked to die, and it could actually result in an infection called peritonitis.
The infection is assessed as a life-threatening condition that always requires surgery, in line with the organization.
Of their letter, they explained that in their very own observations of rats who took the drug, they’d a 43% average increase within the small intestine’s length after a 3-month treatment of GLP-1b drugs, stating that the clinical trials for Wegovy only tested that for 16 months.
In addition they noted that the clinical trials which were done on humans haven’t shown the identical changes in our guts.
The researchers explained that it could actually be hard to find out the length of the small intestine in adults and that constipation, a symptom of intestinal obstruction, can be the identical symptom as having slower digestion, an effect the drug has.
Nevertheless, independent experts who weren’t involved within the research told the Each day Mail that the “medication needs to be secure for many” and maintained that before doctors prescribe the drugs to their patients, they need to take a look at the person’s bowel history.
The favored medicine is run through a once-a-week injection, which patients can do themselves. The utmost dose for Wegovy is 2.4 milligrams.
In recent months, the weight-loss drug has been taking on Hollywood, as many stars have admitted to taking it at one point or one other, including comedian Chelsea Handler, who claimed that she “didn’t know” she was taking Ozempic.
She alleged that her doctor just “hands it out” to anyone.
“I got here back from a vacation and I injected myself with it. I went to lunch with a girlfriend a couple of days later, and he or she was like, ‘I’m not likely eating anything. I’m so nauseous, I’m on Ozempic,’” she recalled during a Jan. 25 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“And I used to be like, ‘I’m form of nauseous too.’ But I had just come back from Spain and was jet-lagged,” she continued.
Twitter owner Elon Musk also admitted to using Wegovy last fall.
