Office Brown fat: the "good fat" that can help us lose weight
Pathogens The secrets of the oral microbiota: the bad and good bacteria that roam your mouth
Doubts This is what fever does in your body
Pediatrics Bronchiolitis, this is how we face the viral pandemic of the little ones
If at Christmas 2021 there was no brother-in-law who was not an expert in Bitcoins, this Christmas in many homes, and with the permission of Leo Messi, the conversation revolves around "fashionable" drugs:
Saxenda (liraglutide) and Ozempic (semaglutide). )
.
Who are they and why have they become such a dark object of desire?
These are two drugs that have been shown to be effective in losing weight in people with obesity.
No cheating or cardboard.
But, beware!
with medical prescription.
How do these drugs work?
In a word: satiate.
If you are not hungry you will eat less and if you eat less over time you will most likely end up losing weight.
Of course, there are more factors involved in overweight and obesity, but if we are clear about one thing, it is that putting less energy into the body is usually quite helpful.
How do they get rid of our hunger?
When we have been eating for a while, hormones called
incretins
begin to be released in our guts (yes, there was no other uglier name).
The incretins
send a signal to our brain saying: "Stop! Stop eating, this is going to be full..."
.
The novelty is that these new drugs have a structure similar to satiating hormones and are capable of fitting into their same receptors as if they were puzzle pieces.
Thus they "trick" our body into believing that we are full.
Can these drugs be taken by everyone?
Although videos have gone viral on
TikTok
where its use is happily advised to lose those extra kilos, this should not happen because it is a drug that must be prescribed by a doctor in patients with obesity.
Among the
most frequent side effects are vomiting, nausea, dizziness
... but there is still more.
It is a drug that may be
contraindicated in case of previous thyroid problems, kidney disease...
it has even been seen that it could cause pancreatitis.
That is why it is essential that a doctor assess whether the patient is a candidate and that, once the treatment is established, he monitors him.
Why are these drugs out of stock?
Right now we have
two drugs in game and trap: Saxenda and Ozempic
.
The first is for obesity, it costs €180 and important information!
It is not financed by social security.
That is, if you are obese and want to use it, first a doctor must prescribe it and then you have to pay for it outright.
For its part, Ozempic is a drug indicated for type 2 diabetes that coincidentally is Saxenda's first cousin.
Both are from the same family and also serve to lose weight.
Ozempic is priced at €125 and it is financed by social security, but only for people with diabetes.
What has happened?
As both are used to lose weight but one is almost €60 more expensive than the other,
many obese people have shifted from Saxenda to Ozempic,
mismatching laboratory forecasts and leaving some people with diabetes without supply.
The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) has issued guidelines to guarantee supply.
Work is already underway so that no person with diabetes lacks their treatment.
Are they really necessary?
Wouldn't it be better to fight obesity through diet, exercise... and forget about drugs?
Important!
Using these drugs does not mean you stop eating right or stop exercising
.
But the reality is that in many cases it is not enough to shut up and play sports to lose as much weight as expected.
Obesity
is a disease of multifactorial origin
and sometimes the treatment can be approached from additional angles.
When the rest of the measures are not enough, drugs can be an option, just as stomach reduction is sometimes.
Isn't it a risk that people misuse these drugs?
Yes. But on many occasions
, anxiolytics (diazepam, lorazepam and other family friends) are also misused
and that does not mean they are no longer available on prescription for those who need them.
These new drugs that have been shown to be effective for weight control can be a great tool for some patient profiles.
Let us always remember that
these are drugs that require a prescription
and access to them should be limited to people who are really candidates.
Why is it important that social security finance these drugs?
Because
people with obesity need all the support possible
and all the tools to fight it.
These therapeutic innovations
cannot be turned into a treatment "for
the rich" because few people can afford to pay these amounts per month.
It is essential to end the stigma, with that cliché that someone who is obese is because they do not shut their mouths, or because they are vicious, or a glutton... The reality is that
in many cases the person cannot stop eating because something is failing
within your body.
Will there be news in 2023?
The good news is that
there are several drugs currently being studied
.
One of the keys is to design drugs with different actions.
To understand it, it is as if the molecule had several
little legs
: one could fit into the satiety receptor but, for example, another could fit into a different receptor that helps us activate brown fat.
I insist:
without ever neglecting good eating habits and physical exercise
, we may be facing a paradigm shift in the approach to obesity.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Pharmacology
Apothecary Garcia
Leo Messi
Tik Tok
nutrition