Ozempic and Wegovy are shrinking sufferers’ muscle mass at an ‘alarming fee’ and should increase their threat of well being issues later in life, a celeb physician has warned.
Dr Peter Attia, a doctor primarily based in Austin, Texas, warned the medication weren’t a ‘panacea’ for weight reduction — regardless of taking Hollywood by storm.
He stated that they prompted equal muscle-to-fat loss in sufferers, which he argued made them metabolically ‘fatter’ as a result of they then had the next fat-to-muscle proportion.
It comes after different medical doctors voiced related fears to DailyMail.com final month, warning the speedy muscle loss places sufferers susceptible to fast weight-gain as soon as they arrive off the medication.
Ozempic triggers muscle loss and may truly make sufferers fatter, a number one physician has argued as a result of it leaves them with the next physique fat-to-muscle proportion
The superstar physician, pictured above, issued the warning on his podcast The Drive and by way of his Instagram account (proven above)
Pictured above is Khalin Grant, 41, from Florida, who misplaced 75lbs in seven months whereas taking weekly injections of Wegovy. She says she now suits into smaller costume sizes than when she was in school. Wegovy and Ozempic are related as a result of they each use the identical drug, semaglutide, however at completely different doses. Wegovy is on the market at barely greater doses
Speaking on his podcast, The Drive, Dr Attia stated that sufferers on the therapy have been additionally dropping lean muscle, which may worsen their long-term well being.
He added in an earlier video on Instagram: ‘Almost with out exception, each affected person we have now placed on this drug has misplaced muscle mass. And they’ve misplaced muscle mass at a fee that alarms me.’
He continued: ‘It just isn’t unusual for those who weigh 280lbs and also you go to 180 kilos that you’re going to lose some muscle and a few fats.
‘But, let’s be clear, for those who misplaced 10lbs of muscle and 10lbs of fats to go from 200 to 180 kilos, would that be good?
‘Well, provided that you have been greater than 50 p.c physique fats on the outset. Otherwise, you have disproportionately misplaced muscle to fats.’
He added: ‘In reality, you have got gotten fatter as you’ve got misplaced weight.’
A better fat-to-muscle ratio places somebody at an elevated threat of coronary heart illness, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and a lot of different well being problems.
This is as a result of the fats — visceral fats that wraps round organs — maunfactures extra harmful proteins that inflame the physique tissue and organs and start to slender the blood vessels.
Ozempic and Wegovy — that are given as weekly injections for $1,000 a month — work by mimicking a starvation hormone within the physique to trick individuals into pondering they’re full.
This suppresses calorie consumption with out leaving somebody feeling hungry, prompting weight reduction. But medical doctors say that sufferers are likely to lose extra muscle than fats whereas on the drug as a result of they don’t seem to be consuming sufficient protein.
Dr Attia defined that his clinic now makes sufferers take a muscle and physique fats scan.
Those that use Wegovy additionally must eat a excessive protein weight loss plan and do common resistance train.
These assist to keep up muscle cells and make sure that many of the weight reduction in sufferers utilizing Wegovy is coming from the fats of their our bodies.
He added: ‘If we have now exhausted all the dietary choices and we’re going to think about using Ozempic you have to have a [Body muscle to body fat] scan first and you have to have actually clear tips for what occurs.
‘We work intently with sufferers which can be on these medication to make sure their protein consumption doesn’t change.
‘So, in case you are 200lbs and your goal weight is 180lbs, you’re nonetheless going to be consuming 200grams a day of protein and you’re going to be figuring out simply as closely as earlier than and for those who do this then, yeah, you would truly disproportionately lose fats mass.’
Long-term, shedding muscle poses a higher threat of weak spot and decrease mobility which can increase the chance of falls and fractures.
It additionally now implies that the physique is burning much less energy per day, as a result of muscle is metabolically costlier than fats.
This implies that if a Wegovy consumer reverts to their preliminary weight loss plan they’re more likely to pile the burden again on and acquire greater than initially.
This could have occurred to TikToker and plus-size mannequin Remi Bader who revealed that she gained ‘double’ the burden she misplaced after coming off Ozempic.
Dr Attia additionally expressed concern in regards to the variety of non-obese individuals who have been signing as much as take the medicine.
He stated within the video: ‘Perhaps extra disturbing to me is the people who find themselves reaching out to me who’re frankly not chubby remotely however are saying “I actually wish to lose 10 kilos to look good on my trip, I must be taking this, proper?”.
More than 5 million prescriptions have been written for 4 weight reduction medication together with Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro final yr, reviews healthcare firm Komodo, thrice greater than within the earlier yr.
The medication are solely accepted for individuals with sort 2 diabetes, however information reveals {that a} quarter of prescriptions in 2022 have been off-label for these with out the situation.
These have been commonest in Texas adopted by Florida, California, New York and Georgia.
But amid the surging reputation increasingly medical doctors are rising from the woodwork to warn over potential unwanted effects.
Pictured above is affected person Ana McKenna earlier than and after utilizing Wegovy. She stated that whereas on the drug she was shedding one to 2 kilos every week
Dr Florence Comite, an endocrinologist in New York City, beforehand warned DailyMail.com that individuals on the drug ‘completely’ lose muscle mass.
‘You will not be consuming sufficient, you aren’t taking over sufficient proteins, you’re feeling nauseous, so you’re consuming consolation meals like mashed potato or rice however too little protein,’ she instructed this web site final month.
‘What we see right here on the heart, it’s often extra muscle loss than fats [in patients].
‘At least 50 p.c of our sufferers will lead with muscle loss.’
She defined that the steadiness tended to be about 60 p.c muscle loss vs 40 p.c fats loss in sufferers of their 40s and 50s, no matter whether or not they have been overweight or chubby.
She warned this was because of sufferers consuming too little protein whereas on the drug, resulting in extra muscle loss.
Many sufferers additionally must do extra resistance coaching, she stated, equivalent to weight lifting or utilizing weight coaching machines that may defend their muscle mass.
Older sufferers even have decrease ranges of the hormone testosterone, which is linked to the upkeep of muscle within the physique.
Dr Attia runs the Early Medical clinic in Austin, Texas. He has many superstar purchasers together with Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman and prize-winning writer Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Novo Nordisk, which owns Wegovy and Ozempic, stated: ‘In scientific trials for Wegovy (semaglutide), we didn’t particularly examine the drugs’s influence on muscle mass.
‘However, in a sub-study of 140 sufferers with a BMI of 40 or much less… analyses urged that therapy with Wegovy was accompanied by reductions in each fats and lean physique mass.
‘Although lean physique mass (which incorporates muscle mass) decreased in absolute phrases, the proportion of lean physique mass relative to complete physique mass elevated.’
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