British Columbia: A new study suggests that the use of weight-loss injections may increase the risk of serious stomach problems.
The study found that the injections (which were seen as a game changer against obesity) made non-diabetics more likely to develop pancreatitis, bowel resistance and gastrointestinal paralysis.
American researchers said that although this case is rare, millions of people could be at risk due to the increasing popularity of this drug worldwide.
A team from Canada’s University of British Columbia reviewed the health insurance claims of 16 million Americans. In this review, they looked at prescriptions between 2006 and 2020 that prescribed smeglutide and liraglutide.
The researchers included people with diabetes in the review and excluded people who had diabetes or were using anti-diabetic drugs.
Known as GLP-1 agonists (chemicals that activate specific cell receptors), these drugs help increase insulin production and were originally developed for type 2 diabetes.
The team said that previous research had documented stomach problems in patients with diabetes, but this was the first large study to examine the problem in non-diabetic individuals.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));