Weight loss drugs may work — but won’t end obesity on their own – The Mail & Guardian

Do not do: New research reaffirms that sugar is one of the biggest obstacles to weight loss – and health in general.

• Losing weight is hard. For many people, diets and exercise don’t work in the long term.  
• Genetics can also play a role in people’s body weight (and their ability to lose it).   
• In this month’s episode of Bhekisisa’s television show, Health Beat, they speak to two people who’ve used the weight loss drug, Semaglutide (in the form of the diabetes injection, Ozempic, as the weight loss version, Wegovy, is not yet registered in South Africa).  
• Mia Malan asks an endocrinologist how the medicine works, who should get it, how much it costs and what the side effects are. 
• Malan also speaks to the public health specialist, Susan Goldstein of the health project, Priceless SA, about why products that make us fat — processed foods — need to be better regulated.   

This story was produced by the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. Sign up for the newsletter.