Weight loss injections have become a global sensation, but if not used properly, they can strip you of muscle and bone mass, according to experts. While these drugs offer hope for the dangerously obese, improper use may lead to long-term health consequences.
The Promise and Peril of Weight Loss Jabs
Almost everyone knows someone taking weight loss jabs, which have become the most talked-about drugs in a generation. For many, they offer the only hope beyond risky bariatric surgery for significant and sustained weight loss. For the dangerously obese, such weight loss can be the difference between an early grave and living to meet their grandchildren.
However, amid huge global demand, there are big concerns that if weight loss is not done properly, these drugs can ruin your life. Many top experts suspect users need to stay on them for life.
Not a Shortcut to Healthy Living
Appetite-suppressing drugs, soon to be available as a daily pill, are not a shortcut to eating better and starting regular exercise. They are a way of helping people do just that. Without eating enough healthy protein and doing resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, the jabs also strip away muscle and bone mass. And if you ever stop taking them, due to cost or unbearable side effects, the fat tends to return, but the muscle and bone mass does not.
This can be catastrophic for long-term health. It means you will struggle to lose that weight again with less muscle to burn calories, while weakened bones leave you at greater risk of osteoporosis and frailty in old age.
The Need for Specialist Support
Most people cannot make the drastic diet and exercise changes necessary without specialist support from personal trainers and clinicians. But this support is expensive, and the NHS does not have the capacity to provide it to the many millions of Brits who could benefit from these drugs. There is a real risk that millions of people will access these drugs in the years to come and just eat less of an unhealthy diet. They will still initially lose a lot of weight, but the long-term health consequences could be dire.
How the Drugs Work
Weight loss jabs mimic a hormone called GLP-1 to make users feel full sooner, rectifying an appetite regulation system that generally malfunctions in people with obesity. The drug fixes a problem with brain signalling where people struggle to feel full.
Earlier this month, I reported on the European Congress on Obesity, where some of the world's leading experts gathered in Istanbul to unveil a consensus statement on GLP-1 drugs. Experts set out a framework for medics prescribing the drugs, which are soon to become more widely available in daily pill form. It outlines how drastic weight loss can go badly if done wrong, with the risk of malnutrition, muscle wastage, and even suicide.
Co-author Dr. Laurence Dobbie, population health expert at King's College London, said: 'To protect dietary quality, we need to prioritise nutrient-dense foods, ensuring appropriate protein, fibre, and fluid intake.'
