While the anti-diabetic drug Ozempic is all the rage on social networks for its slimming properties, health authorities remind that its use must be reserved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
- The anti-diabetic drug Ozempic is touted as an appetite suppressant by influencers on the social network TikTok.
- Health authorities remind that Ozempic is to be used only in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
- Tensions over the supply of Ozempic have been noted by the ANSM and the laboratory, in particular due to an explosion in demand worldwide.
After the glucose sensors, essential to control the glycemia of diabetics but diverted to avoid cravings, it is the turn of the Ozempic to be the object of a fashion effect.
This drug, prescribed against type 2 diabetes, is indeed presented as a simple means of losing weight by influencers, alert theNational Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) and Health Insurance.
Non-diabetics use Ozempic for weight loss
This drug is available on medical prescription only, in the treatment of insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes. The active principle ofOzempic works by binding to receptors for a hormone that has a role in blood sugar control and stimulates the release of insulin when blood glucose levels are high.
Gold “reports from the field report misuse in non-diabetic people with the aim of weight loss“, indicate theANSM and Health Insurancerecalling that its use must be reserved for diabetics.
According to the data cited by the ANSM, between October 2021 and October 2022, approximately 600,000 patients received a drug from the class of GLP-1 analogues, including 215,000 patients, the specialty Ozempic. Of these, “2,185 Ozempic beneficiaries can be considered non-diabetic according to Health Insurance estimates“, notes the Health Insurance.
This drug has even become a fad on TikTok where the keyword #Ozempic peaked on the social network with more than 500 million views on February 24, according to AFP.
The hijacking of Ozempic has significant repercussions
With one injection in the belly per week, Ozempic would have appetite suppressant properties allowing spectacular weight loss, indicates FranceInfo. But taken long term to lose weight, it is not without danger.
The doctor Isabelle Yoldjian from the Medicines Safety Agency indeed point “risks of biliary or pancreatic diseases, thyroid cancer“.
Beyond France, the phenomenon is global and is causing supply tensions. Indeed, the impact of this fad on the availability of the product for diabetic patients is real: the Novo Nordisk laboratory which markets it deplores “intermittent availability and periodic stock-outs”.
