A leading doctor has warned that Ozempic is not a silver bullet and described its side effects as “scary” and “quite worrying”.
Nutrition expert Dr. Mark Hyman said he expects more unintended effects to emerge over time.
It comes after an analysis by DailyMail.com showed that fat loss injections like Ozempic and Zepbound have been linked to more than 100 deaths in the US – with deaths peaking in 2023.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, the New York doctor said: “The side effect profile is scary because bowel obstruction, which is not a trivial thing, basically where your intestines stop moving , is increased by 450%.
“Pancreatitis, where your pancreas becomes inflamed, is increased by 900%.
Dr. Mark Hyman warned of Ozempic’s large number of side effects on the Diary of a CEO podcast.
The cases were recorded in an FDA surveillance system used to track the safety of drugs used in the United States, called FAERS. They are shown above in a graph
“These are not trivial things – so I think the longer this goes on, we’ll see more and more consequences of this drug.” And I think the real problem is not taken into account: how do we solve the problem? »
Dr. Hyman, who has written a dozen books on diet, called the drug a “huge, attractive thing” to solve the world’s “massive obesity problem.”
Previous research has shown that people taking diabetes medications are at higher risk of pancreatitis.
This is because the drug stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin, meaning that in an already inflamed pancreas, it could tip someone over the edge.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that those who used semaglutide or liraglutide injections for weight loss, which bind to the GLP-1 receptor in the pancreas and brain and trigger the hormones that maintain full stomach and tell the body to stop eating and avoid cravings, were 9.1 times more likely to suffer from inflammation of the pancreas, which may require surgery.
This was compared to people using another weight loss drug, bupropion-naltrexone, sold under brand names such as Contrave and containing different ingredients.
One in five cases of severe pancreatitis can lead to life-threatening complications, including organ failure.
Health officials also updated Ozempic’s warning label in September 2023 to add that it may cause a condition called ileus – or intestinal obstruction, when parts or all of the intestines are blocked.
This can cause an interruption of blood flow to the organs, leading to tissue death.
Doctors said that, although rare, in severe cases ileus can lead to perforation – or tearing – of the intestine, potentially causing gastric juice to leak into the body. Health experts suggest that this disease carries a mortality rate of up to one in ten.
Doctors said the drug could cause this condition because it works by slowing the movement of food through the intestines, helping the person feel full for longer.
Mr Hyman, founder of the UltraWellness Centre, said Ozempic, given by injection, is “effective”, but admitted it can be “very powerful”.
He admitted that taking Ozempic was effective for weight loss, but that it came at a cost – both medical and financial – and that once you started taking it, you were effectively bound to it forever, if not the weight would simply return.
Dr. Hyman explained, “Here’s the problem: You have to take it forever, it’s expensive, and most people don’t realize that not only are you losing fat, but also muscle.”
“No one talks about the bad side and, in fact, they are considering giving it to five-year-olds, which terrifies me.”
Explaining how he was able to achieve such drastic weight loss results, Dr Hyman compared the product to Viagra and said: “Ozempic is effective (because) it works with a natural part of your biology…but the effect of the medicine is very strong.
“It is a drug that was first used for diabetes and regulates insulin function, weight and appetite.” So it really works to help lower blood sugar, but the side effect was weight loss: It was like we were studying Viagra for blood pressure, but the side effect was that it helped men to get erections – so it’s a bit like that.
“Obesity affects many people – there are now two billion overweight people on the planet – so you take this injection and basically your appetite goes down, so you’re not as hungry.”
Ozempic is made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and has been popularized by many celebrities, including Sharon Osbourne.
In the United Kingdom and the United States, it is available as a prescription-only drug, but its cost in the United States is astronomical, reaching $1,700 per month, according to Dr. Hyman.
The doctor has testified as an expert before U.S. Senate committees, was a columnist for the Huffington Post and appeared as a regular contributor to the Katie Couric Show.
He continues: “When you stop it, the weight gain comes back, unless you really make drastic lifestyle changes. So this is not a lifestyle change program – it does not help you change your behaviors or habits – it is a pharmacological straitjacket of appetite (but) which can be effective.
“If some people really need it, that’s because they need it. If some people are massively overweight and do not want to have gastric bypass surgery, I think it may be acceptable.
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