TEXAS, USA — Around 70% of American adults are reportedly struggling with obesity or are overweight, which can have serious health risks.
For many, losing that weight can feel impossible.
Now, people are turning to medications like Ozempic, which is a medicine approved for treating type 2 diabetes, but is being hailed as a miracle for weight loss.
Angel Boucher, who lives in Central Texas, was prescribed Ozempic almost two years ago.
"It has 100% changed so much of my life," Boucher said. "I'm down 108 pounds as of today, and I started in March of 2022."
The weight loss was great for Boucher, but she said improving her health was a top priority, especially since diabetes runs in her family.
"My triglycerides dropped," Boucher told 6 News. "My glucose dropped. My white blood dropped. Like everything eventually got normal. This is the first time since I was like 18 that I've had consistent, good bloodwork."
Boucher says Ozempic works for her, but Dr. John Myers, DO Family Medicine and American Board of Obesity Medicine Doctor says the drug is only safe if you start at a low dose and go up slowly.
"Without individualizing the dosing escalation, they can increase the dose too quickly, and in the wrong person who can't tolerate it well, they can end up having major problems," Myers said.
The active ingredient in Ozempic helps slow down how quickly food travels through your digestive tract. That means it will make you feel full longer.
"At a dose that's too high for somebody, it could paralyze it," Myers said.
Myers said like with any medication, Ozempic must be used in the right way.
"Are they literally getting good nutrition? Are they exercising? Are they lifting weights? Are they maintaining muscle? Or are they just letting the medicine let themselves starve to death?" Myers said.
As for what happens if you stop taking Ozempic, Myers says that's uncertain.
"That's not something that you know in advance," Myers said. "You never know how one person is going to do. I'm never going to promise somebody that they won't need the medicine forever."
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Myers says if people take one thing away from Ozempic and its effects, this is it:
"If we consider obesity as a chronic disease, meaning that hormones and metabolism plays a role in addition to environment, which is all the things that we're surrounded by, our habits and that sort of thing, these medications have a very strong and powerful place and can be a tool for great change. But they need to be used appropriately. Patients need to be communicating very closely with their doctors. If used appropriately, they'll probably do fantastic, and they'll do well. If used incorrectly, there can be some major health risks. Also once again, if used incorrectly, that sustainability of that weight loss is going to be a major concern. People are going to end up yo-yoing and gaining the weight back and that's my fear. A lot of people probably are not using these medicines the way that they need to kind of improve healthy habits. They're using them to replace healthy habits. If you do that, then I think the sustainability of this, especially if your medication stops, if your insurance stops covering medication, there's a very large risk you're going to gain weight back quickly and be very demoralized. That's just not the place anybody wants to be."
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