Kerry Toneguzzi has tried all the things to shed extra pounds.
From low-calorie and liquid diets to WeightWatchers, nothing labored. In 2007, she had bariatric surgical procedure and misplaced 100 kilos — solely to realize all of it again.
When she was identified with diabetes within the fall of 2020, her physician instructed she strive Ozempic — a drug authorised in Canada to deal with diabetes, with a frequent facet impact of weight reduction.
“At first, I didn’t suppose it will ever work for me as a result of nothing actually had labored for me,” Toneguzzi, 55, mentioned.
Nevertheless it did. The Ottawa-area insurance coverage underwriter misplaced 115 kilos over about two years. What she finds much more outstanding is that she hasn’t gained any of it again.
“For me to keep up my weight for a 12 months, it’s a win,” she mentioned. “This drug has given me a second likelihood at life.”
Like Toneguzzi, many Canadian weight problems specialists and endocrinologists are welcoming Ozempic as a drug that truly works in treating what they are saying is a genetic, medical situation.
“We’ve didn’t have success in pharmacotherapy till now,” mentioned Dr. Sean Wharton, an inside drugs specialist who runs a weight and diabetes administration clinic in Burlington, Ont.
With the appearance of Ozempic, folks residing with weight problems lastly have a drug that may make a distinction and might be a substitute for bariatric surgical procedure, he mentioned.
However Ozempic has gained notoriety in current months, with celebrities singing the drug’s praises and many individuals posting success tales in weight reduction they attribute to the drug.
Demand for Ozempic in Canada has risen steadily over the past 12 months, in response to the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Affiliation of Canada, which represents a lot of the main pharmacy chains in Canada, in addition to many group drugstores.
The issue with that, some docs and pharmacists say, is that Ozempic isn’t meant for sufferers who wish to drop a couple of kilos of “beauty weight.” Plus, individuals who want Ozempic seemingly want it for all times — research have proven that after they cease taking it, the load usually comes again.
“(There) needs to be no query about that. No person ought to suppose that they’re utilizing this for brief time period and going to cease it,” Wharton mentioned.
“It is a endlessly medicine as a result of (weight problems is) a genetic illness.”
Ozempic prices between $200 and $300 monthly in Canada. Its producer, Novo Nordisk, additionally obtained Well being Canada approval in 2021 for a drug referred to as Wegovy. Ozempic and Wegovy have the equivalent lively ingredient — semaglutide — however Wegovy is a better dose to particularly deal with weight problems.
Well being Canada has additionally authorised Wegovy for people who find themselves chubby and likewise affected by a critical weight-related situation akin to hypertension, diabetes or obstructive sleep apnea.
Semaglutide works by performing like a hormone referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which promotes insulin manufacturing and likewise stimulates a part of the mind that controls urge for food. Sufferers take it by injection as soon as per week.
As a result of Wegovy shouldn’t be but out there in Canada — and Novo Nordisk has not given a date when will probably be — some docs are prescribing Ozempic at increased doses for his or her sufferers affected by weight problems.
Dr. Ehud Ur, an endocrinologist at St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver Common Hospital, mentioned it’s vital to take a look at Ozempic and Wegovy as a medical answer to deal with a life-threatening medical situation, along side adjustments to food plan, train and sleep habits.
“Most individuals don’t perceive that weight problems shouldn’t be a beauty downside. It’s a major illness. Folks with weight problems may have a ten, 15, 20-year discount of their life expectancy due to their weight issues,” mentioned Ur.
However on the entrance traces of main care, household docs have been fielding a rising variety of pleas from sufferers who need an Ozempic prescription, regardless that they’re not affected by weight problems, mentioned Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a household doctor in Toronto.
“People who find themselves coming to me as a household physician are individuals who, you already know, they’re combating the stomach fats, they’re not even diabetic, they’re not even pre-diabetic and so they’re asking for the drug,” she mentioned.
Shelita Dattani, vice-president of pharmacy affairs for the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Affiliation of Canada, additionally practices on a household well being crew that’s coping with sufferers in search of Ozempic as a “fast repair” for weight reduction.
“I’ve had folks ask me, I’ve had mates ask me … ‘you already know, I’ve a marriage arising’ or ‘I must be in a bikini’ or no matter it’s,” Dattani mentioned.
Gorfinkel and Dattani each say these requests require considerate conversations with sufferers about weight reduction and different measures they will take.
“Weight problems is a holistic downside. It’s a biopsychosocial downside,” Gorfinkel mentioned.
These conversations take rather a lot longer than simply saying sure and writing a prescription, she mentioned.
Gorfinkel additionally worries about potential uncomfortable side effects.
In response to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic info web site, the commonest uncomfortable side effects embody nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and belly ache.
These signs go away after a couple of weeks, mentioned Ur.
The web site additionally lists extra critical potential uncomfortable side effects together with irritation of the pancreas, gallbladder issues, kidney issues and low blood sugar.
It additionally notes that research in rats confirmed thyroid tumours. Each Ur and Wharton mentioned there’s no motive to imagine that may occur in people.
The well being dangers of residing with weight problems usually outweigh the potential dangers of taking the drug, they mentioned.
“It’s vital to know who’re the suitable sufferers to deal with as a result of not everyone seems to be a candidate for Ozempic,” Ur mentioned.
“The easy level to make is that in any therapy in drugs you’re balancing danger towards profit.”
Gorfinkel mentioned she would think about prescribing Ozempic together with life-style adjustments if the affected person met the medical standards for weight problems.
However up to now, that hasn’t occurred.
“I’ve but to prescribe it to any sufferers,” Gorfinkel mentioned.
“I’m extraordinarily skeptical. I fear tremendously that if I do prescribe it what might occur is that after they come off of it, they might expertise vital weight acquire.”
When requested if Ozempic and Wegovy are supposed to be taken for the remainder of sufferers’ lives, Novo Nordisk Canada mentioned in an e-mail, “Identical to different continual ailments, sort 2 diabetes and weight problems each require long-term administration.”
“Selections in regards to the appropriateness and length of any medicine needs to be made on a person foundation in session with a health-care skilled,” spokeswoman Amy Snow mentioned.
Toneguzzi, who has began a Fb group in Ottawa for others who’re contemplating Ozempic, has no illusions that the drug is something wanting a lifelong dedication to assist preserve her weight.
She additionally needs to assist others be life like of their expectations, noting that together with taking Ozempic, she labored laborious on her weight reduction, together with a “very regimented” strategy to her food plan.
“It’s not a miracle,” she mentioned.
“It wasn’t simply the medicine. I needed to change my full life-style.”
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