Ozempic: Blood Sugar Stabilizer or Miracle Weight Loss Drug?

i remember seeing Ozempic commercial For the first time a year ago, a familiar song pilot song “It’s Magic” was played on a loop, and only the word “It’s Magic” was conveniently replaced with “Ozempic”. Look.

Ozempic, as described in the drug websiteis a weekly injection to lower A1C, a measure of average blood sugar levels. Proven to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke in adults with type 2 diabetes and other heart conditions. Most notably, Ozempic may help with weight loss. There is up to 14 lbs that’s all.

Ozempic is a semaglutide drug patented by a Danish pharmaceutical company. Novo NordiskSemaglutide works by mimicking the natural hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which stimulates insulin secretion and inhibits glucagon secretion. this is, Type II diabetestheir bodies produce too little or respond poorly to insulin and produce too much glucagon. Glucagon raises blood sugar, insulin lowers it, and lower insulin further reduces appetite corresponds to

Ozempic is explicitly advertised as: not a weight loss drug and its use is very disappointed among non-diabetics. Yet the side effects of weight loss have caught the attention of celebrities, TikTok influencers, and thousands of Americans looking to slim down. big name Like Chelsea Handler, the Kardashian family, and even Elon Musk have admitted to using Ozempic or their cousin’s drugs Wegswhat to do with these drugs NPR It has been called a “blockbuster diet pill” and “Hollywood’s worst-kept secret.” On TikTok, #Ozempic has surpassed his 600 million views.

In our fatphobic culture filled with obesity danger rhetoric, the prospect of magic weight-loss injections is undeniably appealing. But what New Yorker writer Gia Tolentino calls “an almost fundamental tenet of female socialization” is the desire to be thin by any means necessary. in fact, Harvard research, utilizing data from implicit association tests that ask people to classify words and images into “good” and “bad” categories, the implicit weight bias was actually 40% between 2004 and 2010. found to increase by %. All other implicit prejudices (i.e. regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) weakened or remained stable.

Because of the supposed “immorality” and “disgust” of increasing body size, everyone is so afraid of appetite that they try to suppress it at all costs. And it costs a lot. Most health insurance companies do not cover medicines like Ozempic or Wegovy, resulting in monthly prescription costs. over $1000especially the groups most affected by obesity and type 2 diabetes, simply can’t afford.

US Ozempic prescriptions have reached a record high with more than 373,000 prescriptions filled in the final week of February 2023, according to JP Morgan analysis of IQVIA data shared with CNN. Of these, more than half were new prescriptions. 1400 or more Prescription for semaglutide in the past 6 months. Popularity of Ozempic Expected to Boost Prescription Weight Loss Drug Market $1.9 billion this year. It costs a lot of money on a greatly shrinking body that doesn’t need it, at least in a medical sense, and is often exacerbated by side effects. , reported patients who had to go to the ER, not to mention the rare but notable risks of pancreatitis and thyroid cancer. Not studied.

To clarify, Ozempic is very beneficial for those who need it. People who have struggled with appetite and blood sugar levels for years report regaining a sense of control and peace in their bodies. may be approved off-label. Any Therefore, there are no legal issues with non-diabetics accessing Ozempic. While spreading the euphoria associated with not wanting to eat or forgetting to eat, backlash From the ED care community, if spending $1000 on a “magic injection” will improve your quality of life regardless of your pre-existing conditions, who am I to judge?