Most American adults said they would rather not take injectable weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy, preferring dietary change instead, according to a survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
"These data show that, if doctors imagine that people are unwilling to make major diet changes, such as trying out a plant-based diet, the fact is that many people are quite eager to give it a try, given a practical pathway to follow," Dr. Neal D. Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee, told Newsweek. "Despite heavy marketing, most people are not sold on the new injectable medications."
Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Victoza, and others, are drugs which mimic a fullness hormone—called GLP-1—to slow down digestion, reduce appetite, steady blood sugars, and speed up metabolism.
Research has shown that these "glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor analogs" are effective for managing type 2 diabetes and for encouraging weight loss among people with obesity, with some people losing 15 percent of their body weight.
Further evidence—much of which funded by the pharmaceutical company that makes these drugs, Novo Nordisk—has shown that using these drugs may reduce the risk of multiple diseases for which obesity can be a risk factor.
However, adherence to GLP-1 medication is low. Research published in August found that less than half those prescribed injectable weight loss drugs stay on them for six months, and less than a third make it to a year.
This may be because of the side effects associated with GLP-1 medication. Most people experience side effects connected to the slowing of the digestive process, which can include nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, bloating and wind.
Other people have complained that their side effects included a loss of appetite and disinterest in food, depression and suicidal thoughts—although this has been disputed—and, in severe cases, gastroparesis or stomach paralysis, where food stops moving through the digestive system and instead sits fermenting in the stomach.
There has also been a wider discussion about the social stigma surrounding this medication, with some suggesting that some look down on these drugs as an easy way out for weight loss.
And there has been concern that these drugs, though effective while taken, do not necessarily lead to long-term benefits, because the effects only last as long as an individual is taking them.
Without simultaneous lifestyle change, some evidence has suggested that people prescribed GLP-1 medication are likely to regain weight once they come off the drugs.
But the survey carried out by Morning Consult on behalf of the Physicians Committee did not ask respondents about why they were not keen on weight loss drugs.
Instead, U.S. adults were asked to respond to this statement: "If I wanted to lose weight, I would rather take an injectable weight-loss drug, rather than make a diet change."
Out of the 2,221 people who took part, 23 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement given, 62 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed, and 14 percent said they were not interested in losing weight.
Out of those who said they were interested in losing weight, 73 percent indicated that they would prefer making dietary changes over taking injectable weight loss medication.
Respondents were more likely to favor injectable weight loss drugs if they were Millennials or Gen Z, and more likely to disagree with the statement if their household earned more than $100k, or if they were aged 65 or older.
However, the question could be perceived as a false dichotomy, because successful treatment on injectable weight-loss drugs is usually combined with dietary and lifestyle change, to achieve sustainable weight loss.
"This is an important point," said Barnard. "While medications are, in theory, prescribed along with dietary changes, in actual practice the recommended dietary changes are typically old-fashioned (calorie-cutting) and tend to be neglected.
"So in the public's mind and that of most physicians, the drugs are used with little more than lip service regarding diet changes and often are used instead of any support for diet change."
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Reference
Gleason, P. P., Urick, B. Y., Marshall, L. Z., Friedlander, N., Qiu, Y., & Leslie, R. S. (2024). Real-world persistence and adherence to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists among obese commercially insured adults without diabetes. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy. https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2024.23332
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