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Amarachi Okeh
Health experts have cautioned Nigerians against the abuse and misuse of diabetes medication, noting that those using a particular diabetes drug for weight loss without consulting qualified health experts are taking serious risks.
They also cautioned beauty salons using the drug for weight loss to desist from the act.
According to the experts, the unguided use of the drug, mainly used for the management of diabetes has now become the new fad for beauty saloons’ in the weight loss business, warning that using the drug without the guidance of the right health expert could be dangerous.
They also bemoaned the availability of the drug in the market, noting that such medication should not be easily procured by non-medically certified outlets that are now using it for weight loss.
The medication, semaglutide, is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
In 2017, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide as an injectable medication for the treatment of diabetes.
Then in 2021, FDA approved Wegovy, which has a higher dose of the active ingredient semaglutide to treat obesity.
However, over time, the drug has become a popular weight loss fad with even Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter attributing his weight loss to the use of the drug in a tweet.
According to experts, semaglutide help lowers blood sugar levels and regulates insulin, which is crucial for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The drug also imitates a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that is naturally produced in the intestines by limiting appetite and as a result of this, people with obesity and accompanying health concerns have lost weight while taking it.
However, due to this, there has been an overwhelming demand for the drug for weight loss and as observed, it is now marketed by beauty bars as a weight loss drug.
Despite its recent popularity, health experts warn against the non-medically guided prescription of the drug by beauty outlets.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, the experts, a Professor of Endocrinology, Christian Okafor, and Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr. Oluwarotimi Olopade noted that obesity is a disease that needs to be treated medically.
Prof. Christian Okafor stated that in as much the drug has been approved for obesity, it is important to stress that it still undergoing post-market surveillance saying “when people throw caution to the wind and begin to use it anyhow, then they might be exposing patients to unnecessary risks.”
He said, “Everybody knows that it is the responsibility of a doctor to give prescriptions to a patient. We know that our society is one where such boundaries are not respected and people do all sorts of things until they get into trouble.
“This is a drug that has been recently approved for the management of diabetes and weight loss That is not a license for people who are not health practitioners to begin to prescribe the drug so it is for doctors to make the accurate prescription because every drug has side effects and adverse reactions and so forth so the right thing should be done.
“The craze about maintaining your shape should not make people who are not qualified begin to make prescriptions unnecessarily.”
Also speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Dr. Olopade stressed that the dosage of the medication for persons with diabetes and for those seeking to lose weight is also different, hence only a health practitioner can rightly know how to give the right prescriptions for the drug.
He said, “the drug is supposed to be given by doctors because obesity is a disease so people must consult a doctor before using it for weight loss.”
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