Elon Musk announced that he lost weight because of him. An anti-obesity drug becomes a hot topic

Despite their strenuous attempts, some overweight or obese people cannot get rid of their unwanted kilograms. Although they pay close attention to what they eat and exercise more, this does not tip the balance in their favor.

This is very frustrating, especially if excess body fat leads to or worsens serious health problems, such as diabetes. Besides changing their lifestyle, they can now resort to new anti-obesity drugs, some of which are self-injecting.

The European Medicines Agency, in describing the effect of an anti-obesity drug, reports that it regulates appetite, increases satiety and reduces hunger.

A number of these drugs have caused a stir on social media in recent months, in part because many celebrities and community influencers have said they have lost weight through them. Late last year, US billionaire Elon Musk, in response to a comment on Twitter about losing weight, said he was able to achieve this by resorting to fasting and using Wygovy.

The scientific name of the drug is semaglutide and is manufactured by the Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. It was approved in the United States under the trade name Uzambik, to treat adults with type 2017 diabetes in 2018 and then in the European Union in 1. The drug lowers sugar and hemoglobin A<>C (glucose-coated hemoglobin in red blood cells) in the blood, as well as lowering levels that reduce diabetes complications.

As an increasing number of non-diabetics in the United States get the drug through special pens for weight loss, the drug has become a hot topic elsewhere as well, such as Germany.

Dr. Stefan Petersen, a spokesman for the German Society for Endocrinology, said: "More and more of my patients are asking me about it."

Wygove, a higher-dose version of Uzambik, was approved in the United States in 2021 as a weight-loss treatment for obese adults (where BMI is 30 or more), or for poorly overweight adults (BMI +27) with at least one of the overweight-related diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. In early 2022, the EU also approved the drug for weight loss and control. However, the property is still not available in Germany.

The data collected so far are positive. In a study published in 2021 in The New England Journal of Medicine, 1961,30 non-diabetic adults with a BMI of +27 or 68+, with at least one disease associated with overweight, received either semaglutide under the skin once a week, or placebo for <> weeks, a substance given to the patient for treatment, and does not have a real effect in treating the disease in particular, but with which the patient is delusional psychologically that this treatment he takes carries healing for his illness.

Added to this is a low-calorie diet and a more active lifestyle. The group receiving semaglutide lost an average of 9.14% of their body weight, compared with 4.2% among the placebo group.

Simaglutide isn't the only drug on the market. But other medications should be taken one to three times a day, according to the study. The German Society for Endocrinology says that of all the drugs currently approved for its active substance, simaglutide is the most effective for weight loss.

Although this sounds promising, experts see practical obstacles and warn of its risks and side effects, and of "unapproved and unsupervised use by the licensing authorities", according to the German Society for Endocrinology.

While Wigovi is still not available, some who want to lose weight instead resort to using the yet-to-be-approved drug Uzembik.

Dr. Stefan Petersen says that in order to get the effect of Wygovy, users must receive doses of semaglutide higher than those recommended for Uzembek.
The drug can cost about 80 to 200 euros per week ($88 to $219) depending on the dose.