Weight loss medications, sometimes also called weight loss drugs or anti-obesity medications, are prescription drugs that reduce your appetite and food cravings. Over the last few years, the FDA has approved a number of anti-obesity medications that help control appetite and food cravings.
Astonishing success of weight loss medicines
The explosive popularity of weight loss medicines such as Wegovy and Mounjaro has energized the search for novel therapies for obesity. For the time being, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are leading the market with injectable medications that target GLP-1 receptors to imitate the hormone’s effects of making individuals feel full.
However, hundreds of companies are now entering the race, seeing the potential for millions of dollars if they can bring to market drugs that are oral, longer-lasting, have fewer side effects, or give additional benefits in addition to weight loss.
Many of these medications target GLP-1 receptors as well as other hormones involved in satiety and metabolism, but some use completely novel pathways.
Last year, the competition for business among [contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) began. Since then, firms such as Lonza, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a part of Fujifilm Corp, and Germany’s Vetter have disclosed at least a half-dozen projects valued at least $3 billion.
With Lilly ready to launch Mounjaro and Novo straining to meet demand even as it expands Wegovy into new territories, the pace is picking up.
People globally experience intestinal difficulties
A new study suggests that people who take popular injected weight loss medications such as Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda, and Victoza may be more likely to develop serious digestive problems such as stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions than those who take other types of weight loss medications.
The study discovered that the probability of these events occurring in individual patients appeared to be low — for example, around 1% of persons taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis. However, demand for the medications has skyrocketed, with tens of millions now using them worldwide. According to researchers, even rare risks like these could result in hundreds of thousands of new cases.
Previous research has suggested that GLP-1 medications may cause a number of additional typical gastrointestinal adverse effects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, and constipation.
More study is also required, particularly lengthier studies with bigger groups of patients, to gain a better understanding of which patients are most vulnerable to severe gastrointestinal side effects.
Meanwhile, the study findings emphasize the need of obtaining these medications from a doctor rather than the internet, so that the potential hazards can be thoroughly discussed. Due to the gastrointestinal concerns, patients with active or recurring gallbladder disease, active or recurrent pancreatitis, and a history of diabetic gastroparesis or paralytic ileus may be unable to safely use GLP-1 medications.
