Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: Ozempic, Weight loss, Health
Callum Jones
A lesser-known side effect of Ozempic has been revealed as the medication becomes increasingly popular for weight loss across the US.
It's thought that roughly 30 million people in the US have taken Ozempic or other similar medications, which are designed to help those with Type-2 diabetes.
Many are deciding to use the drug for weight loss purposes too, but it should be worth noting that Ozempic in particular is not approved by the FDA as a means of shedding the pounds.
The likes of semaglutide (Wegovy) and liraglutide (Saxenda), fellow GLP-1 drugs, have been approved for weight loss purposes, however.
Advert
A simulation was recently created to demonstrate what happens to your body once you inject the drug, which left some viewers horrified.
But that hasn't stopped people using it to loose weight, including many famous faces such as Oprah Winfrey and Sharon Osbourne.
And fans expressed concerns about Osbourne in particular after she shared a snap of her watching TV with her grandson. In the photo, she was barefoot and fans pointed out that her feet looked particularly frail.
Drugs like Ozempic which induce weight loss can affect a person's skin, says health.com.
The website explains: "Some people have reported 'Ozempic face' and 'Ozempic butt' or loose, sagging, or aging skin on the faces and buttocks from rapid weight loss.
"The skin has less tissue to cover in either case, which can make it sag or seem less plump."
"The speed at which you lose weight and the amount lost can also affect skin elasticity. Losing a lot of weight very quickly may make it harder for your skin to resorb the new shape of the tissue underneath it."
Meanwhile, Dr. Scott Isaacs, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, told Health: "The underlying mechanism is that when fat is lost quickly, the skin’s natural elasticity may not be able to keep up.
"The feet’s fat pads act as natural shock absorbers, and the rapid loss of tissue can leave the skin in the foot lax and unsupported."
Cosmetic surgeon Dr Barry Weintraub also weighed in on the matter, detailing how the body may impact how our body retains water.
"As the heart becomes less taxed with extra weight, the water retention decreases, and the substructures of the foot (veins, tendons, bones) often become more visible," Dr Weintraub explained to MailOnline.
When appraoched by UNILAD, Novo Nordisk said it is important to 'continue monitoring this area to systematically and rigorously evaluate the effects to avoid spurious findings'.
They also recommended anyone experiencing any adverse events reports them to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to ensure relevant safety data is appropriately captured.