Weight loss jabs have become the most talked about drug in a generation.
Almost everyone knows someone taking them and for many they offer the only hope beyond risky bariatric surgery of losing a lot of weight and keeping it off. For the dangerously obese, such sustained weight loss can be the difference between living to meet the grandkids instead of an early grave.
Amid the huge global demand for these powerful drugs, there are big concerns that if the weight loss is not done properly they can ruin your life. Many top experts suspect users need to stay on them for life.
Appetite-suppressing drugs – soon to be available as a daily pill – are not a shortcut to eating better and starting regular exercise. They are a way of helping people do just that.
View 2 ImagesIt is vital that people exercise after starting on jabs(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Without eating enough healthy protein and doing resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, the jabs also strip away muscle and bone mass. And if you ever stop taking them – due to cost or unbearable side effects – the fat tends to return but the muscle and bone mass doesn’t.
This can be catastrophic for long term health. It means you will struggle to lose that weight again with less muscle to burn calories. Meanwhile your weakened bones leave you at greater risk of osteoporosis and frailty in old age.
Most people cannot make the drastic diet and exercise changes necessary without specialist support from personal trainers and clinicians. But this support is expensive, and the NHS does not have the capacity to provide it to the many millions of Brits who could benefit from these drugs.
There is a real risk that millions of people will access these drugs in the years to come and just eat less of an unhealthy diet. They will still initially lose a lot of weight but the long term health consequences could be dire.
Weight loss jabs mimic a hormone called GLP-1 to make users feel full sooner – an appetite regulation system which generally malfunctions in people with obesity. The drug rectifies a problem with brain signalling where people struggle to feel full.
Earlier this month I reported on the European Congress on Obesity where some of the world’s leading experts gathered in Istanbul to unveil a “consensus statement” on GLP-1 drugs.
Experts set out a framework for medics prescribing the drugs which are soon to become more widely available in daily pill form. It outlines how their drastic weight loss can go badly if done wrong with the risk of malnutrition, muscle wastage and even suicide.
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Co-author Dr Laurence Dobbie, population health expert at King’s College London, said: “To protect dietary quality we need to prioritise nutrient dense foods, ensuring appropriate protein, fibre and fluid intake.”