America’s New Weight Loss Drugs Need Some Perspective

Recently hanging out with some friends put me in the middle of a conversation about weight loss. One friend was discussing the possibility of his wife undergoing bariatric bypass surgery while another friend was telling him about the latest weight loss drugs. It was an interesting conversation. Needless to say, losing weight is difficult for many people. It has been that way for as long as I can remember.

Are America’s new weight loss drugs the solution? Are drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic the miracles we have all been looking for? There is little doubt that a handful of modern medications can assist with weight loss. But drugs are drugs. We need to apply a little bit of perspective so that we do not get carried away.

Medically Managed Weight Loss

The earliest weight loss drugs relied on stimulants to suppress the appetite. They worked well enough for short term weight loss but were never intended for long term use. And in fact, some of them were even addictive. Today’s weight loss drugs are different.

Most of them were not originally developed for weight loss to begin with. For example, both Wegovy and Ozempic were developed to treat type-2 diabetes. They have been approved for that purpose for many years. Now they are also being recommended for some instances of medically managed weight loss. America’s New Weight Loss Drugs Need Some Perspective

This is a key point to consider. You can’t buy America’s new weight loss drugs over the counter (OTC). They are prescription medications you can only get after seeing a healthcare provider. And according to the experts at Utah’s KindlyMD clinics, prescriptions are almost always dispensed as part of a medically managed weight loss program.

Medically managed weight loss is a weight loss strategy supervised by a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. It is scientifically based rather than just another weight loss fad. Most importantly, medically managed weight loss isn’t right for everyone.

There Are Parameters

There are key parameters under which medically managed weight loss is approved. KindlyMD explains, and the American Medical Association (AMA) concurs, that it’s mainly for two types of patients:

• Those with a BMI of 30 or more; and
• Those with a BMI of 27+ and a weight-related health problem.

It is also understood that patients undergoing medically managed weight loss have tried traditional weight loss strategies under medical supervision and have not succeeded in losing the extra weight. Medically managed weight loss supported by the latest prescription drugs is not supposed to be offered as a first line treatment.

Diet and Exercise Are Still Important

As helpful as America’s new weight loss drugs can be, diet and exercise are still important. New drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic are GLP-1 agonists. Their main function is to control blood sugar levels among diabetes patients. They appear to help with weight loss by possibly reducing appetite and helping people feel full for longer.

According to the Mayo Clinic, medical science is not yet sure exactly how these drugs contribute to weight loss. That is something else to be cognizant of. Because we do not yet know the mechanisms behind these drugs and their impact on weight management, we also cannot make sure of the long-term consequences of using them.

America’s new weight loss drugs may seem like a miracle to some people. That’s usually the case when a new medical treatment gains popularity. But let us practice some perspective. Weight loss drugs are not for everybody. They also aren’t a magic solution to America’s obesity problem. We have the problem for a reason, and a pill does not eliminate that reason.