In recent years weight loss injections like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro have become hugely popular. These drugs were originally created to treat type 2 diabetes, and yet they find themselves being extremely sought after for weight management.
What makes the weight loss set appeals so effective are, by some accounts, users are reportedly losing up to 20% of their body weight. Those medications help suppress appetite, offering millions who battle obesity hope.
The injections are now believed to be used by nearly half a million people in the UK. But the bulk of them are getting them via online pharma or social media.
If the NHS would offer these injections, 24 per cent of Britons would consider using them, according to a survey by Ipsos. For those who are obese the figure is 46%.
Demand is rising because of growing society’s reliance on pharmaceutical weight management solutions. More worryingly, this trend has infused both hope and worry into the medical community.
These drugs have been well documented as having good clinical benefit, with significant weight loss and good health markers in trials. Users have found that their blood pressure is lower, their blood sugar is better, and they’re healthier as a whole.
But experts caution that there are also risks, particularly if these drugs are used without medical supervision. Without guidance, these side effects can become amplified and may actually result in serious health problems.
Reports to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show they have seen a sharp rise. Troublesome issues related to this topic might include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that can lead to severe dehydration.
One more troubling aspect is that rare but serious complications like pancreatitis, bowel obstruction and hypoglycemic shock could occur. The sale of counterfeit products through an online purchase has greatly compounded these issues.
The MHRA has also warned people about fake weight loss pens that include harmful substances, such as insulin. They can be life threatening to cause coma and even death on some products.
There have been concerns raised by medical professionals about these drugs being misused when in patients that are not obese. However, they can be used for cosmetic reasons which can result in a “higher” side effect.
But Professor David Strain from the University of Exeter warned of the risks in unsupervised use. Risk is mitigated in clinical trials, he noted, by things like counseling and monitoring.
Such support is not forthcoming in private use, and the danger here is great, if dosage increases up to the dose used on the NHS. Some companies have been urged to tighten access to these drugs by regulatory agencies.
Just one month, the Yellow Card scheme run by the MHRA has seen 19 per cent rise in adverse effects being reported. The fact that we see such a surge underlines just how urgent it is that better regulation and oversight is brought in.
But the demand for these injections keeps growing, even if it is dangerous. Rapid and substantial weight loss promises remain a topic of public interest.
Across the board, the MHRA has seized hundreds of counterfeit weight loss pens in 2023. Those seizures represent, the experts say, ‘just the tip of the iceberg.’
Sadly hospitalizations from these drugs have soared to nearly 400 cases in the UK. That’s an enormous 46 percent rise in just one month.
These include severe dehydration, pancreatitis and hypoglycemic comas, which is an alarming rise. A lot of these incidents are associated with package deals of counterfeit products bought online.
The risks of these injections being misused or manipulated and getting fake medications increase as more people begin to turn to them to lose weight. They warn that other damage is needed to be prevented urgently and importantly by stricter regulations.
Weight loss shots are still a trend that shouldn’t be ignored — hospitalisations from the surge are a sharp reminder of the potential dangers. They hold promise but their misuse shows why proper medical oversight is so important.
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