Medicines like Ozempic or Wegovy are in a category known as GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide-1, medicines. The energetic ingredient in Ozempic is semaglutide. Semaglutide is an incretin, a hormone produced within the intestine that helps sign to your mind that you’re full. Semaglutide additionally helps regulate the transit time in your intestine; if meals passes extra slowly via your physique, you then really feel full for longer.
For context, GLP-1 medicines have been used since 2005 to deal with Kind 2 diabetes. They’ve been completely studied and acknowledged by the medical neighborhood as an efficient therapy of diabetes. In 2021, semaglutide was accepted below the model title, Wegovy, for weight reduction.
One fantasy that has been circulating across the web is that Wegovy is more practical than Ozempic. In actuality, they’re the very same. They’re equally efficient for weight reduction on the identical dosage. The factor is, till lately, Ozempic was usually prescribed at a decrease dose when used for diabetes administration. Wegovy, alternatively, is prescribed with the intention of maximizing the dose to realize optimum weight reduction.
With the rise in demand for these medicines, Ozempic began to be prescribed for weight reduction and never simply diabetes administration, although it’s technically solely FDA-approved for diabetes.
Ongoing analysis can also be wanting into new medicines. One is CagriSema, which is a mix of cagrilintide and semaglutide. Cagrilintide emulates amylin, a hormone that impacts satiety. The second is Retatrutide which is a GLP-1, gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), and glucagon agonist. It’s just like Mounjaro however provides a glucagon agonist, which can assist individuals burn extra energy along with suppressing their urge for food.
An enormous misunderstanding about this rising class of medicines is which you can take them for some time and simply get off of them. In the end, they’re extra of a persistent medicine and work most successfully if taken constantly, just like an anxiousness or blood stress medicine (humorous how we don’t decide these!). That is vital to consider earlier than beginning these medicines.