Dr Max on a possible solution to the growing obesity problem
BY THE END of the decade, obesity will be a bigger cause of liver failure than alcohol. It is estimated that obesity currently costs the country £58 billion a year. To put that in perspective, that’s just under a third of the entire NHS budget. The WHO has warned that two-thirds of women and three-quarters of men will be overweight by 2030. They warned that we are facing an “enormous” crisis if it’s not tackled.
In the past few months though, there has been a glimmer of hope in the fight against obesity: semaglutide. This medication has actually been around for several years under the trade name Ozempic. It was developed for diabetes and is similar to a naturally occurring hormone in the body called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1). It is injected once a week and helps to stabilise people’s blood sugar levels, but researchers also noticed that it helped people to lose weight. It has now been licenced for obesity under the name Wegovy.
The drug acts like a hormone in the brain which causes people to feel less hungry and slows the clearing of food from the stomach—spurring weight loss. This medication—along with others that are being developed—offers real hope to those who have struggled with weight loss. I know, because I’ve seen it first-hand. For many years I worked in an eating disorder service, and part of my job was assessing patients with obesity who were waiting for bariatric surgery. Most were not eligible and, aside from surgery, there was little we could offer them. We would have to discharge the patient back to their GP with advice on healthy eating and exercise. It was heartbreaking because many were tormented by their weight but felt helpless and powerless to do anything about it and yet when they asked for help, there was little the NHS had to offer.
Then, a few years ago, patients started telling me about semaglutide. Some started getting it privately and, I have to say, the results were startling and since then I’ve had more and more patients taking the drug. It’s sometimes been quite emotional seeing patients on their weight loss journey with it. People who have struggled with their weight all their life have shed the pounds apparently effortlessly. They simply don’t feel particularly hungry and don’t crave the food they used to. It’s been a game-changer.
This doesn’t mean it’s a panacea though. There’s no doubt that it’s not right for everyone. It doesn’t address people’s underlying relati
