How anti-diabetic Ozempic became a social media rage for weight-loss

Ozempic, the anti-diabetes drug has made it to the headlines for its potential weight loss properties. The drug is riding on the wave of social media trends, with the videos under hashtag Ozempic reported to have amassed over 600 million views on TikTok so far.

But Ozempic's rising popularity has led to global shortages and doctors have warned about the potential side effects.

"Losing 40kg in less than three months is possible" thanks to Ozempic, a French TikToker cited by the news agency AFP said in a post in December. The video has nearly 50,000 views.

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What is Ozempic?

Ozempic is an injectable drug from the Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.It was initially developed and approved in a number of nations across the world to treat type 2 diabetes. The drug slows down how quickly food leaves a person's stomach, reducing their appetite.

What exactly are Ozempic's weight-loss properties?

In early 2021, peer-reviewed research found that almost three-quarters of people who used the drug lost more than 10 per cent of their body weight.

After the research was widely publicised, it led to a large number of people obtaining Ozempic's "falsified prescriptions".

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However, experts caution that it"is not a medication for people who do not have diabetes or are at risk of type 2 diabetes". France's medicines regulator has now urged doctors to only prescribe Ozempic for diabetes.

Novo Nordisk was quoted as saying by the AFP that "stronger than anticipated demand" for Ozempic had resulted in "intermittent availability and period stock-outs" around the world.

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The company's global manufacturing facilities "are now operating 24 hours, seven days a week" to bridge the gap, it added.

Fear of side effect

Nausea is one the most common side-effects of the drug, experts say.

There are also rarer and more serious risks such as acute pancreatitis, which can occur even at lower doses, billiary disorders, and rare cases of severe constipation which can lead to bowel obstruction, they add.

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