Is it the begining of the end for Weight loss injections?

[BeginingoftheendforWLI]

Just watched a report on BBC news, they did an item on a woman who had type 2 diabetes and was prescribed Mounjaro, doctors were impressed she managed to come off insulin within a month. She had some weightloss and now goes to the gym regularly.

Her doctor admitted that there was widespread concern in the medical field that people who were buying it privately for cosmetic reasons not for medical reasons could face some consequences in the future such as muscle growth and bone degeneration and lack of nutrition - they simply don't have this data at present.

Feel like this is going to be big news in the foreseeable future.

The genie is out of the bottle and there is £££ to be made so the chemistry will evolve. All the caveats will apply but for years people have been told of an obesity crisis threatening to bring down the NHS. Now there is an alternative we have a wli crisis. Before we ban the injections let's look at the food industry with it's palm oil, sugar and upf and the responsibilities. Then there was the fat shaming and the smug slims who now seem upset because it's not about them

The ones that OP has mentioned the Doctors are worried about!

”Her doctor admitted that there was widespread concern in the medical field that people who were buying it privately for cosmetic reasons not for medical reasons could face some consequences in the future such as muscle growth and bone degeneration and lack of nutrition - they simply don't have this data at present.”

I’m at the sharp end of this, as a close relative, who I am carer for, is undergoing this treatment, so we have sat through many discussions in appointments where these concerns were raised by DRel and answered in similar vein by their Diabetes specialist consultants…

I didn't say I wouldn't advise anyone to take it, did I?

As with any medication, there will be side effects and risks. So you need to be sure you have very good reason to be taking it.

Taking something you have no idea of the long term effects of is silly if the benefits for you personally are not great enough to outweigh the potential risks. So for WLI, if somebody is morbidly obese, with type 2 diabetes, high risk for cardiac disease etc, then it's possible to make a case that the benefits of WLI in mitigating these risks are so significant it's worth the potential risks, including those risks we don't know of yet because there isn't the long-term data yet. But if it's just for cosmetic reasons or perceived as easier than dieting without medication, that trade off looks very different.

Personally, I'm wary of taking anything with wide-spread effects across multiple body systems without there being a good and long track-record of data to see what happens to users over time. But it ultimately comes down to need and the individual risk/benefit calculation for each person and condition.

Personally, I'd want more data than that over a longer time-span, to make it worthwhile to me. But I'm only a little overweight and could reasonably lose it, if I could be arsed, just by watching what I eat. If I was seriously obese, with all the health implications that brings, I might feel differently and that it was worth the possible future risk to mitigate the risks I was facing now.

I think this topic generates intense agitation and defensiveness.

I don't have a horse in this particular race, but I hope that it all works out well and people benefit from it.

But I do think there's a rather aggressive push against any measured, cautionary discussion. It seems to cause havoc if criticised or if someone has a negative experience after taking the jabs.
It might be wiser to have a more balanced, nuanced take on such things. We can explore all angles without having to fight.

An emotive subject though. A guaranteed MN page turner for sure:)

@Worralorra there’s no mention of studies in the quote you’ve repeated from the OPs post. Just speculation and repetition of already known issues around weight loss itself.

@BunfightBettythis is what the MHRA has carefully considered after looking at all the data presented. The decision made was that the benefits outweigh the possible risks of side effects for people with a BMI of 30 plus, or 27plus with a weight related health condition or 27 plus for certain ethnicities. That process has already been gone through and considered. The MHRA did not feel that more data was needed - were they very wrong about that?

Mounjaro stops me drinking as much. Terrible!

And more than 20 years of data in diabetes.

it doesn’t mean we know everything about GLP1s, but then again we still don’t totally understand paracetamol. We will learn more, positive and negative, and adjust use accordingly but they are currently being studied for heart, kidney, liver and brain diseases, so usage likely to increase. Injectables might decrease as more effective non-injectable versions become available, but GLP1s are likely to be very commonly prescribed over the next decade.

Sorry, but it’s very worrying that you ‘work in healthcare’ and think that these drugs are ‘insulin’ and that ‘people on them are injecting insulin’.
They are not insulin; they are a completely different drug.

We won't know if they were wrong about that for some time, will we! We'll just have to see what happens over time.

They approved it for those with a high BMI, but people of lower BMIs are taking them, without having the risk profile of those with a higher BMI. That's the biggest concern.

I have no skin in this game, I don't take them and don't plan to. I do worry that some people who don't need them may be taking them without thinking carefully about the downsides.

Actually these drugs do not simply suppress appetite. They have very significant metabolic impacts, which is why they are so effective and can improve health so much in well selected patients.

@BunfightBetty so the biggest concern is people who are accessing prescription only medication fraudulently or illegally who don’t meet the criteria as laid out by the MHRA. I would agree that people who are reckless enough to access POM for conditions they don’t have are likely to cause themselves harm. Although likely only the current known side effects rather than unknown possible future side effects.

I do wonder why the decision making of the MHRA is under doubt for this specific medication and not all of the other medications they rule on.

No, the “whole point” of WLI is to restore GLP-1 levels in the brain and rebalance the body’s responses to sugar, insulin and food in general. It is not to “ensure weight loss is more rapid”.

Sure, some people do find the weight drops off fast, others of us are happily plodding away losing 1lb a week at a dose that suits us. While also appreciating the excellent blood test results and reduction in joint pain from being merely overweight instead of obese.

Just for the record, severely/morbidly obese is the highest. Below obese is overweight then normal. 😉

Obese is a medical term. It isn't about what you look like or your dress size, it's about the impact your weight is having on your health.

Well if you are 3 stone overweight then that will adversely effect your health - It's not about appearance in that case. People taking WLI correctly are doing something proactive for their health. Good for them.

GLP1 is an amazing tool for a weight loss journey. I have lost 5 stone. overhauled my diet and exercise.
my blood pressure is normal for the first time in years.
I am a normal bmi after being extremely obese.
I have had loose skin removal surgery and my stomach is completely flat.

it has changed my life and I will be forever grateful.

I think you’re exactly right.

I understand why; there are many people who have struggled with their weight for a very long time and have now found a solution. Considering any negative data means they might have to think about whether they should stop taking WLI so it’s preferable to take quite an aggressive stance.

People on both sides of the debate cherry-pick stats and anecdotes to suit their stance. Hardly anyone is having a genuinely open and honest conversation; there’s nearly always an agenda, one way or another.

I would love to use WLI but I have one of those annoying bodies that always reacts badly to drugs. I got a blood clot from a COVID vaccine. I’m in that tiny % of people that typically has a bad reaction to many different types of medication.

I’m 50 now so I think it’s probably going to be too late for me. I’d want to see at least 10 years of high-quality, high-quantity data in non-diabetics at a range of different weights, with a variety of other co-morbidities factored in.

I regularly have a little think about trying WLI but don’t think I’ll take the plunge as I’m afraid of the side effects. There have been deaths linked to the use of WLI and I’m just scared I’ll be one of those rare cases.

I’m not opposed to them at all but I don’t think the companies that prescribe them always act ethically and I think there should be tighter regulation. Handing out financial incentives to get others to sign up feels very wrong - these are powerful drugs, not a skincare treatment!

I think we can all hope that the WLI continue to revolutionise healthcare and that in time, there is the data available to reassure scaredy-cats like me that they’re safe to use.

Rybelsus? That is not a new drug and is less effective than the injections. What the pp is talking about is the WLI being delivered as a pill and being as effective as the injections.

I worry about taking them about as much as I worry about taking any other drug I take in the way that it's approved to be by the medicine's regulator and overseen by an expert medical professional. I'm unsure why people are so very concerned about me all of a sudden. They seemed to worry far less about all the additional risks I carried when I was obese and the cost of those to the nhs than they do now I'm a healthy weight thanks to an approved drug that I'm funding myself.

Cosmetic reasons? @BeginingoftheendforWLI

you mean like losing weight, going from
obese to a healthy weight, decreased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, improved physical fitness, improved mental health and wellbeing?

no I don’t think it’s the end of WLI

But that's a different discussion isn't it...people do stuff that's bad for them and not advised all the time. It's got nothing to do with the safety or efficacy of these drugs when used appropriately. People keep talking about rapid weight loss and if some people have many many stones to lose, it does tend to start coming off very fast but many also are losing slowly, less than 1lb a week and gently moving toward a healthy BMI without triggering some of the conditions raised. The issue of people misusing them should be separated from the discussion of their overall safety.

www.thesun.co.uk/health/37790276/weight-loss-jabs-demand-double-2026-sophisticated-fakes-warning/

@LydiaFunnyGums can you summarise? Most people aren't going to click on a random tabloid link.