Carolina Gomez Mena
The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 26, 2024, p. 19
Although injectable weight-loss drugs based on semaglutide and similar substances have proven to be effective, health agencies and specialists warn that their indiscriminate use without medical supervision can cause serious health problems, including kidney complications, and have even been linked to the development of depression and suicidal thoughts.
In recent years, the use of these subcutaneous injectable medications – which regulate glucose and appetite to reduce the rate at which food leaves the stomach – has increased, to such an extent that the United States Food and Drug Administration included two drugs whose active substance is semaglutide on its list of drugs in short supply as of May 2023.
The producing laboratory also reports that, in the United States alone, 25 thousand people begin treatment with these injectables every week. Last June, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there are an increase in demand for these drugs
and issued an alert for Counterfeit versions that can harm your health
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These GLP-1 receptor agonist products, such as semaglutide and liraglutide, are used to control obesity, overweight and type 2 diabetes. Various clinical trials indicate that body weight losses range from 5 to 20 percent.
David Ampudia, bariatric endoscopist surgeon, indicated that One of the main risks is its use without a prescription. That is, when people self-medicate because it was recommended to them by someone they know or they saw it in a video on social media, such as TikTok, which has become very popular recently.
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A few weeks ago, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris) warned about the risks of self-medication with semaglutide and liraglutide. It stated that their consumption without medical supervision can cause adverse effects. It even highlighted that pharmacovigilance reports have associated these products with the development of suicidal thoughts and self-harming behaviors
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The incidence of obesity in Mexico today is double what it was in the 1980s, according to the National Institute of Public Health. Of all adults, 36.9 percent have this condition and it is estimated that 45 percent will suffer from it by 2030.
Globally, WHO data indicate that in 2022, one in eight people were already suffering from obesity; however, in 1990 this condition doubled among adults and quadrupled among adolescents. Thus, in 2022, some 2.5 billion adults were overweight, and of them, 890 million were obese.
Ampudia, a specialist assigned to the General Hospital of Zone 2A Troncoso, of the Mexican Social Security Institute, said that these injectable products stimulate the release of insulin in the pancreas, help to regulate glucose in the liver and extend the time that food remains in the stomach to avoid accelerated increases in glucose.
He warned that A person who does not need these medications and self-prescribes them, or if someone must take them but changes the dose in order to lose weight faster, can cause stomach and intestinal damage, hypoglycemia and even kidney damage, as well as diarrhea or constipation, vomiting, nausea and other less serious symptoms.
He added that There have been reports of cases of people taking this type of medication developing suicidal thoughts and self-harming behaviour, although there are no studies proving a direct relationship.
He stressed that it is very important that all weight loss treatments be addressed with multidisciplinary approaches that take into account not only the patient’s physical health, but also their emotional and mental health.
