Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been billed as "gamechangers " in the fight against obesity and diabetes, and the popularity of these drugs as a weight loss aid is booming: In the U.S., health care providers wrote 9 million prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic in the last three months of 2022 alone, according to a 2023 analysis.
But like any medication, however, Ozempic and similar drugs — which use semaglutide as an active ingredient to mimic a naturally occurring hormone called GLP-1 — come with a range of side effects. Nausea, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea are common effects and many questions remain about these drugs, including their long-term impacts on the body. What's more, emerging connections to rare and severe conditions like gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, and other serious gastrointestinal illnesses is drawing concern.
Impact on the Body One way in which Ozempic affects the body is by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties. By prompting release of insulin and interacting with GLP-1 receptors in the brain and elsewhere in the body, Ozempic affects an individual's appetite. “Every gastroenterologist will tell you that clearly Ozempic has an impact on gastric emptying,” says Sameer Khan, a gastroenterologist at John Hopkins Hospital.
“There’s a large number of GLP-1 receptors in the stomach and it’s already known that Ozempic and similar drugs slows digestion.” Read More: Here's How Ozempic Actually Works for Weight Loss Ozempic and.