CLEVELAND (WJW) — It was part of Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue at the 95th Academy Awards Sunday night.
“When I look around this room I can’t help but wonder, is Ozempic right for me,” he said.
Hollywood and pop culture continuing to shed a light on the diabetes drug Ozempic, a drug also prescribed for weight loss.
“This is not a medicine you want to start taking if you simply want to look good at the pool or at the beach for your vacation. These are medications used to really impact your health,” said University Hospitals endocrinologist Dr. Brian Burtch.
Burtch says Ozempic and its weight-loss counterpart, Wegovy, work by interfering with insulin production and stabilizing blood sugar levels.
The drugs also decrease appetite.
But injections of semaglutide, the ingredient used in both drugs, are currently on the U.S. Food and Drug administration’s list of shortages; meaning many type-2 diabetics who really need it, aren’t getting it.
Dr. Burtch adds, “Not a day goes by where at least a couple of my patients calling in stating that they can’t get their Ozempic, they can’t get their Monjaro. So we’re really scrambling to get the appropriate patients those medications that they very much need.”
While the most common side-effects are gastro-intestinal in nature, nausea, vomiting, constipation, doctors say Ozempic can also lead to more serious side-effects.
“There may be an increase in the rate of pancreatitis, although that it quite low of a risk, it’s still a significant problem because in certain cases, pancreatitis can be fatal,” he said.
Bottom line, doctors say there’s really no quick fix to weight loss, even if Hollywood makes it look easy.
“This is not a short-term kinda thing,” the doctor said. “This is a long-term decision of medicine you’re gonna have to be on long term, if you hope to keep the weight off.”