EP 739 Weight Loss Drugs Are All the Rage

When a gorgeous Poli theater was restored in my hometown about a decade ago, one of the changes that had to occur was making the seats larger, because since the early 20th century Americans have gotten heftier.  Along with this collective weight gain, thanks to processed foods and more sedentary work lives, has come an assortment of maladies including diabetes, heart conditions and strokes.  And while the general toolkit we had to address the obesity crisis consisted of better diet and exercise, or barbaric surgery later on, that wasn’t enough to really move the needle.  And then along came drugs like Ozempic and the ‘off label’ prescribing of this diabetes medication for weight loss, Wegovy, specifically for weight loss, and others now in early stage use and development and it seems like many people we all know are injecting these drugs and finding that they are losing 15 percent of their weight in the process.  Now, hold on.  When something sounds too good to be true…so what is the story with these drugs?  How long do you have to stay on them?  What are the side effects?  Are they safe for childhood obesity?  We’ll discuss all this today with Dr. Richard Siegel, co-director of the Diabetes and Lipid Center and a doctor at the Weight Loss and Wellness Center at Tufts Medical Center and an associate professor at the Tufts School of Medicine.

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