Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The drug that Jeremy Mitchell is taking to manage his diabetes, which is known as “Ozambik”, has become a new fashion for weight loss. Today, Mitchell is having a hard time finding him.
Mitchell, 39, from Kansas, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2020.
It is reported that his father passed away last month at the age of 62 due to complications from diabetes.
“I have three children that I want to see grow up, and I want to see my grandchildren grow up,” Mitchell said. “Uzbek helped me manage my blood sugar.”
New weight loss tools
Millions of Americans turn to corsets at the end of the year, vowing to lose weight in the New Year.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Control, between 2017 and 2020, 2 out of 5 Americans were diagnosed with obesity, with a BMI over 30, a 10% increase from 1999 and 2000.
Until recently, these people relied on limited help from their medicine cabinets.
And 3 FDA-approved pills resulted in between 5% and 10% reduction in total body weight in clinical trials.
In 2014, Saxenda entered a new era.
The diabetes treatment became one of the first drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for weight loss.
It belongs to a family of relatively new drugs that mimic the effects of an appetite-regulating hormone, GLP-1.
These medications work by stimulating the release of insulin, which helps lower blood sugar. It also slows the passage of food through the alimentary canal.
Mitchell said about the drug “Ozambik”: “It leaves you feeling full to a large extent all the time … you will not want to eat.”
Semaglutide, also known as Ozambik, is given once a week.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved it for diabetes management in 2017, under the brand name “Ozambik,” and for weight loss, under the name “Wegovi,” in 2021.
Studies show that the drug helps people lose 10 to 15% of their original weight. And once you stop using it, it will make it easier to gain the weight you tried to lose.
“There have been a number of patients who started Wigovi and were unable to continue,” said Dr. Kimberly Judson, medical director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
“Because of the inability to obtain Wegovi, a lot of doctors started prescribing Ozambik to treat obesity,” she continued.
As a result, many of these injectable GLP-1 mimetics are in short supply.
Novo Nordisk, which makes both Wegovi and Ozambik, said in a statement that it is experiencing intermittent supply disruptions for some doses of Ozambik due to overwhelming demand.
Although it is aware that some health care providers may prescribe Ozambik to people who want to lose weight, the company “does not promote, suggest, or encourage the use of medications outside the scope of the label.”
Novo Nordisk said it is currently working on making Wegovi doses available by the end of the year.
“The enthusiasm around these drugs, right now, is a double-edged sword,” Goodzon said. “I’m glad people are excited about having a treatment option for their obesity.”