Ozempic May Be Linked to These Serious Stomach Problems, New Study Reveals
Researchers found that the weight loss drug and others of the same type can result in health issues.
Over the past year, weight loss injections have become all the rage. Endless people are claiming that weekly injections of drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza, formulated to treat diabetes, have enabled them to lose weight fast. But according to new research, there may be some serious side effects that come along with weight loss.
A new study published in JAMA claims that people using Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza for weight loss may be at higher risk for serious digestive problems than those taking other weight loss drugs.
The digestive problems include stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions.
The good news is the risk of these types of serious digestive problems is rare. For example, only around 1% of people taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis. Scientists worry that because so many people are using the injections to lose weight that it could lead to hundreds of thousands of new cases.
"When you have millions of people using these drugs, you know, a 1% risk still translates to many people who may experience these events," lead study author Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia, says.
Unfortunately, digestive problems can be serious and not mild. For example, bowel obstructions can be medical emergencies.
"Although rare, the incidence of these adverse events can happen. I've seen it happen," said lead author Mohit Sodhi, a medical student at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine in Vancouver. "People should know what they're getting into."
The study is based on health insurance claims from 2006 to 2020 and involves 5,000 patients in the U.S. Researchers examined how many people who used the drug for weight loss developed one of four serious gastrointestinal problems — biliary disease, gastroparesis, pancreatitis or bowel obstructions. None of them had diabetes.
Compared to people taking bupropion-naltrexone, another weight loss drug, those on GLP-1 drugs had an increased risk of pancreatitis, bowel obstruction and gastroparesis, according to the research.
Pancreatitis, which causes severe abdominal pain and sometimes results in hospitalization or surgery, had an occurrence of around 5 cases per 1,000 users of semaglutide and 8 cases per 1,000 users of liraglutide.
About 10 per 1,000 semaglutide users and 7 per 1,000 liraglutide users developed gastroparesis. The condition can result in severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain and can be difficult to treat.
"This is critical information for patients to know so they can seek timely medical attention and avoid serious consequences," said Sodhi, encouraging more disclosure about the condition.
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"Someone who has diabetes and is taking this medication for that might be more willing to accept the risk of these adverse events, which are rare, to help get their diabetes under control," Sodhi said. "But people who are otherwise healthy but may want to lose a bit of weight, you know, if they had a better idea essentially of what they might be getting into … that could potentially change whether or not they take these medications."
