Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images News / Getty Images
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a link between popular weight loss drugs and severe gastrointestinal problems.
The researchers found that people who use GLP-1 agonists, such as semaglutide, which is found in Ozempic, Wegovy, and liraglutide, which is used in Saxenda, are more likely to develop conditions including stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, than people who take other types of weight loss medications.
The drugs, which were developed to treat diabetes, work by slowing digestion to keep food in the stomach longer, which suppresses a person's appetite.
The authors noted that while it was rare for people taking the popular medications to develop gastrointestinal conditions, hundreds of thousands of people could be at risk.
"When you have millions of people using these drugs, you know, a 1% risk still translates to many people who may experience these events," lead study author Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia, said, according to CNN.
One of the other lead study authors, Mohit Sodhi, a medical student at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine in Vancouver, said that "people should know what they're getting into" before taking weight loss medication.
Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Saxenda, said its drugs are safe and that side effects, including those identified by the study, are listed on the label.
"We work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines," Novo Nordisk spokeswoman Allison Schneider said.