Can Ozempic help cure arthritis? Some doctors say so. Many overweight patients struggle with chronic conditions like high blood pressure, fatty liver, rheumatoid arthritis, and sleep apnea. Now, some doctors are suggesting an “obesity first” approach to treating these issues.
The idea is to treat obesity with medications approved for that use and, as weight drops, other chronic diseases will also improve or go away altogether. By prescribing a drug such as Wegovy from Novo Nordisk or Zepbound from Eli Lilly, in addition to diet and exercise, doctors are confident they can treat obesity and improve related conditions with a single medication. Dr.
Caroline M. Apovian, an obesity medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, tells The New York Times , “You get the weight loss, and you’ve treated the high blood pressure, the fatty liver, the diabetes, the high cholesterol, the high triglycerides.” Dr.
Apovian reports that patients who follow this protocol are delighted with the streamlining of their bodies and their medications. As a bonus, patients often keep taking their obesity drugs, a consistency that’s less common for prescriptions like statins. Still, some docs are skeptical of the “obesity first” initiative.
Detractors note that patients with obesity can be easily turned off by a doctor who mentions their weight. In addition, obesity drugs are expensive, and while they may provide unexpected benefits, more studies are needed to verify th.
