(NewsNation) — Why are people without diabetes using Ozempic to lose weight?
Jorge Rodriguez, an internal medicine doctor, said Tuesday on “CUOMO” that the new diet craze can be “very dangerous” if people don’t carefully consider side effects and confer with their physician.
Ozempic is an injectable prescription medicine used drug used to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.
“The main concern is that a lot of people are going to physicians that are not checking them correctly,” Rodriguez said. “Listen, you have to qualify. You have to be what is technically obese body mass index of over 30. Or you have to have a body mass index over 27 and have either heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol … in other words, you’re at a high risk.”
The drug may cause serious side effects:
- Inflammation of your pancreas
- Changes in vision
- Low blood sugar
- Kidney problems
- Serious allergic reactions
- Gall bladder problems.
“This medicine mimics a hormone that’s made in the pancreas that basically stops you from eating and slows down your stomach from emptying, so you feel fuller. But guess what happens? You have reflux, you have regurgitation,” Rodriguez added.