More and more often, those who want to lose weight rely on the advice of social media. And TikTok, in this sense, it has become an uncontrolled source of information. Younger people run the greatest risks, who tend to believe everything that passes on the screens of their smartphones, without understanding the dangers that certain practices promoted by self-styled influencers entail. The latest dangerous diet trend comes from overseas: a anti-diabetes drugl’Ozempic, is used to lose weight. A practice potentially harmful to health and even illegal, given that the medicine in Italy can only be sold on prescription.
TikTok, diabetes drug recommended for weight loss: health risks
Yet the trend is a global success: on TikTok the hashtag Ozempic has been used 350 million times. By doing a simple search, thousands of videos of girls – young and old – pop up promoting Ozempic for weight loss and also showing its use. The drug, like other diabetes medicines, is given as a solution for injection in a pre-filled pen. Those who share the videos tell about the “miraculous” effects of the drug, showing their body “before and after” the prolonged intake of Ozempic. The practice seems to be very popular among the stars of Hollywoodclosely followed by emulators around the world.
How a TikTok trend turned a diabetes drug into a diet pill https://t.co/1sqZnwRLTk
— The Independent (@Independent) October 13, 2022
An in-depth study of “The Indipendent“explains that Ozempic – whose generic name is semaglutide – works by inhibiting a hormone that regulates appetite, creating a feeling of fullness. The drug is administered via a weekly injection: the treatment would be able to reduce weight in a year. of those who take the drug by 6-15%. Ozempic has benefited the pharmaceutical company that produces it, Novo Nordisk$ 3.4 billion in 2020 alone, but analysts expect sales to more than double in 2023, when a new version of the drug approved by the UK health system goes on sale in the UK.
What are the side effects of Ozempic
According to the definition ofEma (European Medicines Agency), Ozempic is “an antidiabetic medicine used in combination with diet and exercise to treat adults with type 2 diabetes that is not satisfactorily controlled”. The drug can be used ‘on its own (alone) in patients who cannot take metformin (another antidiabetic medicine). It can also be used in combination with other antidiabetic medicines’. Ozempic can have side effects such as ‘digestive problems such as diarrhea, vomiting and nausea’ as well as ‘severe worsening of diabetic retinopathy’. But the real risk depends on the uncontrolled intake of the drug, not combined with physical activity and proper nutrition. Dangers that, unfortunately, TikTok does not tell and which instead must be absolutely reported, especially in favor of those who – wanting to lose weight quickly – risk relying on social media avoiding contacting the doctor.
© breaking latest news