Scientist behind Ozempic warns the drug can make life “so miserably boring”

While Ozempic may be making waves as every celebrity’s go-to drug for weight loss, a scientist behind the widely popular drug has warned that the positive effects from its use come with a nasty drawback over time.

Semaglutide, and its brand-name forms Ozempic and Wegovy, are being hailed as miracle drugs for type 2 diabetes and weight loss. The drugs, a new class of medications that mimic a hunger-regulating hormone called GLP-1, have exploded in popularity since people realised that they can make you feel full for longer by regulating hunger signals in the brain. 

However, they come with a host of side effects for some patients that range from uncontrollable diarrhoea to being downright disgusted by food. And a scientist who helped create the drugs told Wired that these side effects might make it hard for patients to continue taking the drugs for more than a couple of years, which could lead to regaining weight.

Many people get pleasure from eating — not just the taste of food, but also the social aspect of interacting with family and friends around the dinner table. When food cravings go away because of semaglutide, life can get much less enjoyable, one scientist said. Jens Juul Holst, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, has been involved with researching GLP-1 drugs since the 1970s. 

In an interview with Wired, Holst said that there’s a “price to be paid” when taking semaglutide. “Once you’ve been on this for a year or two, life is so miserably boring that you can’t stand it any longer and have to go back to your old life,” he said. 

A 2020 study found that 70% of patients who took GLP-1 drugs for type 2 diabetes stopped taking them within two years — though adherence to the drug hasn’t been studied specifically for weight loss. 

One reason, Holst hypothesised, is because of the lack of interest in food. But ultimately, he told Wired, “We don’t know why people stop taking these drugs, but we know for a fact that they do stop.”

While there have been concerns about a future where millions of Americans are on these drugs forever, Holst told Wired he doesn’t think this is going to be an issue. “I don’t see that a huge part of the population will be put on Wegovy and will stay on Wegovy for the rest of their lives,” he said, “I simply don’t see that picture, because this hasn’t happened with other GLP-1 drugs.”

Recently, HUNGER weighed in on the Ozempic debate, speaking with the founder of G&M Healthcare and General Practitioner Dr. Grace Hula. She described her journey with the drug, explaining how she “lost 3st on a very low-calorie diet and then lost some more weight, about 2st on Ozempic.” 

“Most of our lives are busy and stressful and Ozempic takes the stress of worrying about what to eat because you can eat anything but in much smaller amounts and thereby helps you lose weight that way,” said Hula.