People taking a prescription drug - usually used to treat diabetes and obesity - in the hope of weight loss are 'taking on risks without medical benefits', one GP has said.
Dr Phil Kieran was speaking as some patients are reportedly being switched from Ozempic, after an online weight loss craze has resulted in shortages.
The drug improves the way your body responds to food by producing more insulin, slowing down the rate at which your stomach empties and reducing the ability of your liver to produce sugar by itself.
Dr Kieran told The Hard Shoulder the drug is not new.
"It's a drug that improves the way the body deals with sugar at its most basic," he said.
"This class of drugs has been around for quite a long time - they've been around in treating diabetes for decades".
Cork GP Dr Phil Kieran. Picture by: drphilkieran.ieDr Kieran said the drugs were also found to help with weight loss.
"These drugs were great for treating diabetes because they didn't cause weight gain," he said.
"As we went with more sophisticated designs of them... we were noticing that people were actually getting weight loss on it.
"That was a real interesting thing because that was very beneficial in some people with Type 2 diabetes.
"Now we're seeing that being applied outside the world of diabetes".
He said this includes "people living in bigger bodies."
'Significant risks'
Dr Kieran said taking any drug carries a risk.
"There are significant risks with taking a drug like Semaglutide or Ozempic," he said
"It can in rare cases cause a very severe, potentially life-threatening, condition called pancreatitis.
"It can also cause severe nausea or diarrhoea.
"So it's not without risk and it's not without problematic side-effects.
"When we're using it to treat a diagnosed condition, we're weighing up the benefits versus the risks.
"Whereas if you do not have a diagnosable condition that we need to be treating for preventative reasons, and you're only taking it for lifestyle or vanity, then you're taking on those risks without medical benefits".
He said such trends are "muddying the waters" for the uses of the drug itself.
"It's making it seem like anyone who takes it who doesn't have diabetes is using it purely for vanity.
"That's having a very negative and pejorative effect on people who are living in bigger bodies, who have struggled with this condition," he added.
