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A leading metabolic scientist believes the rise of Ozempic will lead to new health crises in years to come.
Figures from 2024, which are likely an undercount, suggest one in eight Americans have taken a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic.
But Dr Ben Bickman, a scientist and professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, believes many are unaware of three main harmful consequences of these medications.
First off, he told DailyMail.com that he fears the nation could go on to suffer widespread frailty due to extreme ‘loss of muscle and bone mass’ linked to the drugs.
While participants in a 68-week-long clinical trial of semaglutide – the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy – lost an average of 23lbs of fat, they also saw a 15lbs decline in lean muscle mass.
Having low muscle mass and weak bones, especially in old age, increases the risk of infections, illnesses that have to be treated in the hospital, falls and even disabilities. Frail people are much more likely to die young.
This one is much more subjective, but Dr Bickman believes Ozempic could lead to people becoming ‘mentally fragile’.
He highlights anecdotal evidence from patients who say that Ozempic not only dulled their cravings for food, but also for other pleasures in life such as sex, alcohol, coffee and others.
Dr Ben Bickman, pictured, says that people should be weary of the outfall that will come with weight loss medications and he predicts three crippling failures of Ozempic
Dr Bickman says: ‘The benefit in reducing cravings for sweet food may actually be a reduction in cravings for life.’
He fears patients could succumb to depression as a result.
Pointing to one study, Dr Bickman reveals: ‘Patients on the drug experience a 195 percent increased risk of major depression and over 100 per cent greater risk of suicidal behavior.’
Meanwhile, another investigation which looked at a World Health Organization database that tracks suspected adverse drug reactions, and found that there was a 45 percent greater rate of reports of suicidal thoughts associated with semaglutide compared with all other drugs in the database.
However, countering these findings the FDA released a statement in January 2024 saying it had found no connection between the drugs and suicidal thoughts and in April of the same year. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) did the same.
Next up, Dr Bickman claims that in the long run, weight loss medications have the potential to make people fatter than they were in the first place.
Explaining how people go on to regain weight after taking Ozempic for a period of time, he says: ‘Ozempic is effective at reducing cravings… However well this works, it works until it doesn’t.
‘At around two years of use, people find that the sweet cravings return to normal.
‘Interestingly, this is also when many people decide to quit the drug and about 70 percent of users stop the drug at two years.’
The study Dr Bickman refers to, which included an analysis of US pharmacy claims provided to Reuters, did not include details about why patients quit but costs could come into play.
Ozempic carries a price tag of approximately $1,000 monthly.
And touching on his theories around weight gain, a 2022 clinical trial following about 200 people who had taken semaglutide for more than a year and lost an average of 17 percent of their body weight, looked at what happened when they stopped.
Researchers found that they regained about 12 percent of their body weight within a year.
Another recent study by Northwestern University found a majority of people who stopped taking semaglutide regained about two-thirds of the weight lost and had worsening health markers, including higher blood pressure and cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease.
Continuing on the subject, Dr Bickman adds: ‘While muscle and bone mass might never return, the body has no trouble regaining fat mass.
‘What’s more, one study found that one version of these drugs, actually stimulates the production of new fat cells.
‘This becomes a problem because when a person start to regain fat mass after stopping Ozempic, with more fat cells comes a greater potential to gain more fat.
‘As a result, even though a person may still weight less than they did before starting the drug, they may be fatter, with a higher percentage of body fat.’
Despite his concerns around the side effects of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, Dr Bickman highlights that he is not against them but it is more the dosing that he is concerned about.
Adults with type 2 diabetes take Ozempic once per week to lower blood sugar levels, and they usually begin with a 0.25mg dose.
This lower dose allows the body to become accustomed to the medication.
At week five, doctors typically increase the dose to 0.5 mg once a week if the patient tolerates the medication.
Weight loss patients typically follow the same dosing schedule, but their doses might may be increased to as much as 2 mg once weekly and Dr Bickman believes these amounts are too high.
Speaking on a podcast with health influencer Thomas DeLauer about the positives and negatives of weight loss drugs, Dr Bickman explains: ‘I’m not [opposed to these drugs].
Dr Bickman’s hope is that weight loss drugs can be used more responsibly to reduce the possibility of any negative repercussions
‘When they were in their original dose I actually looked at them as one of the more remarkable drugs.
‘At this original lower dose I considered this to actually be a favorable balance… [something that] is really helping people control their blood sugar levels andthe fact that it would help with their cravings.
‘[But now] that we’ve gone to these literal multiples and doses becoming higher the harder it’s getting for me to look at them favorably.’
Dr Bickman’s hope is that weight loss drugs can be used more responsibly to reduce the possibility of any negative repercussions.
He told this website: ‘They should be used at the lowest possible dose that shows efficacy in controlling carbohydrate addictions and cravings.
‘Users should also be encouraged to prioritize dietary protein and fat, especially from animal-sourced foods such as dairy, meat, and eggs, to help build their strength, while frequent strength training can help prevent any loss of lean mass.
‘And finally, patients should be encouraged to stop the drug after a period of use, at which time they assess their cravings for carbohydrates.
‘Ideally, a person has learned how to eat better and control carb cravings and their weight loss can be sustained in the long run.’
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