Alice in weight-loss wonderland
WEIGHT LOSS
Our weight-loss columnist and type 1 diabetic, Alice Dogruyol, tries Wegovy injections that manage weight by suppressing appetite. Could this drug be the solution she’s been searching for?
I HAVE NEVER KNOWN WHAT IT’S like to feel full and satiated. I am always hungry and can always eat more. I have had a complicated relationship with food and sought comfort in it throughout my life but I have always wondered whether I also might have some sort of hormonal dysregulation that drives me to overeat. My research revealed that as a type 1 diabetic, there are six hormones my body likely doesn’t produce properly; insulin is just one of them. There are two others that control hunger and appetite: amylin inhibits food intake, delays gastric emptying and decreases blood glucose levels; then ghrelin, often called the hunger hormone, sends a signal from your stomach to your brain that it’s time to eat. This was a revelation to me and opened my mind to considering taking Wegovy injections.
Ozempic and Wegovy are two brands that contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide, but in differing amounts and are approved by regulators for different health purposes. Ozempic is generally prescribed to diabetics whereas Wegovy is marketed as a weight-loss drug. They are both a semaglutide GLP-1 receptor agonist that mimics a naturally occurring hormone that tells your brain that you are full. It slows down digestion and gastric emptying making you feel fuller for longer. It also suppresses the amount of glucose produced by the liver, improves insulin sensitivity and even helps the pancreas produce more insulin for those with type 2 diabetes. I asked my NHS diabetes endocrinologist about it. She said that it was only approved for type 2 diabetics but there were encouraging studies to suggest that it could be helpful for type 1 diabetics and she would be happy for me to try it, but it wasn’t available on the NHS. I was going to have to look for private options.
As I researched, I came across a weight management company called Roczen. It is run by a stellar medical team including specialists in type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease prevention, dietetics and behaviour change. Roczen describes itself as a digital lifestyle management programme for reducing type 2 diabetes and managing weight loss. The process starts with an online questionnaire to assess eligibility and suitability. You subscribe to the app and are assigned a clinician who will arrange a call with you to discuss your health goals. They put together a personalised weight-loss strategy that uses a combination of medical, nutritional and psychological consultations, technology and the next generation of GLP-1 medication to help manage obesity.
Roczen in-house doctors and dietitians
