Life after Ozempic health and wellness

Losing weight is surprisingly easy. Recover this also later. With trendy drugs, GLP-1 receptor agonists, the patient’s weight reduces by about 15%. The Holy Grail of the diet is injectable, its commercial name is Ozempic and it costs 130 euros per month. But its cost is much more than economic. This medicine creates a constant feeling of satiety and it is not easy to live a full life in the world of obesity. In our daily lives, many social plans revolve around the table or bar counter. Ozempic removes the desire to eat, in many cases removes the desire to drink, and can give a persistent feeling of nausea. These are some of the reasons why, despite their effectiveness, more than half of consumers abandon these drugs within a year. And with the return to routine, the kilos come back. However, a new study suggests there may be a way to avoid the rebound effect: exercise.

To reach this conclusion, researchers at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) contacted participants from an older study, which they published in 2020. They then analyzed 195 obese people who lost 10 kg and maintained that weight. One group supplemented the diet with treatment with Saxenda, one of the first GLP-1 agonists. Another started taking the same drug, combining it with two types of supervised exercise program. spinning And two races per week. The third group was given placebo. After a year, almost everyone who took the drug had lost or lost most of the weight. The results were published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine And the participants resumed their lives without supervision or guidelines.

The most revealing part of the study then began. After a year, the researchers invited him to return to the laboratory. 109 returned and their weight, body composition and current exercise habits were checked. This year has been disastrous for some people. Those who did not maintain an exercise routine regained about 70% of the weight they lost. Furthermore, most of these regained pounds were in the form of fat, not muscle, so they had a higher percentage of body fat than before taking the drug. got worse. “His weight had increased unhealthy,” said Signe Sorensen Torekov, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Copenhagen and lead author of the study. On the other hand, people who themselves maintained some sports habits maintained their weight better and preserved more muscle. The results clearly indicate that people taking these medications can “maintain a healthy weight” even after stopping the medication. “But they need to exercise,” Torekov said.

The new study was funded, in part, by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a charity affiliated with the maker of Saxenda, although the company did not oversee the study or its results. In addition, the drug used is already superior to more advanced versions, but the authors and other experts assure that the results of the study will also apply to the rest of the drugs in this family.

per puncture kg

Less than a year ago, EL PAÍS prepared a report on the popularity of Ozempic in Spain, citing two specific cases as examples. 36-year-old Maria (fictitious name) from Madrid had lost about seven kilos of weight due to the puncture. The treatment did not involve diet or exercise, but because he never felt hungry, he lost weight without much effort. He decided to stop taking Ozempic shots and went back to his old habits. “I’ve gained weight again,” he replies in an exchange of messages. “I was in pain for four months, then I stopped.” When asked about the reasons that led her to give up the drug that worked, Maria explains that she lost what she loved and that day-to-day life with Ozempic was not very pleasant. “The way it was administered, the injection, made me a little lazy, it was uncomfortable for me. And then the difficulty in getting it, the nausea… in short, I gave it up,” he explains. One year later, his weight is the same as it was when he started getting punctured.

Sevillian Javier Diaz, 45, treated himself with a strict sports routine. In his interview a year ago, he had claimed that he could do 100 squats in a day. And he continues to do so, as he has maintained his playing habits. “Two days during the week I have a personal trainer and three days I have free training,” he explains in an audio exchange. “to do crossfit“Functional training, I do a mix of cardio and strength, and I walk the dog a lot… right now I’m doing an hour walk with him.” Diaz left Ozempic eight months ago. But he did not stop exercising. During this period his weight remained between 81 to 82 kg.

“This is a clear example of how medication can help,” explains Cristóbal Morales, his endocrinologist. “This is a very common case. Stress, lifestyle habits, work… these are the factors that affect the patient’s weight. We can help you with medications to control the dysfunction in your brain, your gut hormones. But it must also include healthy habits that persist even after medicinal support ends.”

Morales is an endocrinologist at the Virgen de la Macarena and Vithas hospitals (both in Seville) and a member of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity. Asked about the University of Copenhagen study, he strongly agrees with the results, which he places in a broader and consensus context. He explains, “Studies like this support our message that obesity units of excellence are not such if they are not multidisciplinary and include physical activity and sports professionals.”

Obesity is a long-term disease, which is why it has been suggested that it should also be treated. However, in many cases, these medications only provide additional support to encourage lifestyle changes. “Obesity is forever and patients will struggle throughout their lives to maintain their weight,” Morales believes. “But real-life experience with obesity drugs varies depending on the patient. There are people who use it to reach their healthy weight and then are able to maintain it without drugs, others need smaller doses and there are those who may need it intermittently. Is.

The use of the first GLP-1 agonists began 15 years ago and various scientific studies confirm the safety of long-term treatment. But life with Ozempic, though feasible and safe, does not seem sustainable. The medication can sometimes provide help, but before the first injection, you should start considering how to manage life after Ozempic. What to do when you feel hungry again?

you can follow EL PAÍS Health and Wellbeing In Facebook, x And Instagram,