Ozempic is in the spotlight but it's just the latest in a long and strange history of weight-loss drugs

That’s been the holy grail of weight-loss ever since 19th century English undertaker and weight-loss celebrity William Banting’s 1863 Letter on Corpulence spruiked his “miraculous” method of slimming down.

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https://theconversation.com/ozempic-is-in-the-spotlight-but-its-just-the-latest-in-a-long-and-strange-history-of-weight-loss-drugs-209324https://theconversation.com/ozempic-is-in-the-spotlight-but-its-just-the-latest-in-a-long-and-strange-history-of-weight-loss-drugs-209324
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Tuesday, August 8, 2023
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Exercise, Injection, Seizure, Amgen, Letter, Endocrinology, Human, Food, Obesity, Industry, Diet, US Food Sovereignty Alliance, Diabetes, Ephedra, Leptin, Stroke, Phentermine, Splenic infarction, Hope, Psychotherapy, Research, Appetite, History, Diarrhea, Due, Sale, Movement, Hormone, Science, Athlete, US, Dietary supplement, Patient, Time, Poisoning, Amphetamine, Novo Nordisk, Overweight, Hypothalamus, Pleasure, Fenfluramine, Nausea, Mouse, Growth, Knowledge, Health, Death, Safety, Social environment, Social media, Cosmetics, Canning, Birth control, Pharmaceutical industry, Drug, Nightclub, Semaglutide
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  • That’s been the holy grail of weight-loss ever since 19th century English undertaker and weight-loss celebrity William Banting’s 1863 Letter on Corpulence spruiked his “miraculous” method of slimming down.
  • Since then, humans have tried many things – diet, exercise, psychotherapy, surgery – to lose weight.
  • But time and again we return to the promise of a weight-loss drug, whether it’s a pill, injection, or tonic.

Ozempic is a recent arrival

    • Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk, are the latest offerings in a long history of drug treatments for people who are overweight.
    • This has helped drive a shortage of Ozempic for diabetes treatment.

From ‘gland treatment’ to amphetamines

    • For example, organotherapy (gland treatment) was hugely popular in the 1920s to 1940s.
    • Doctors prescribed overweight people extracts of animal glands – either eaten raw or dried in pill form or injected – to treat their supposedly “sluggish glands”.
    • Amphetamines were first used as a nasal decongestant in the 1930s, but quickly found a market for weight-loss.
    • Amphetamines too, fell from treatment use in the 1970s with Nixon’s “war on drugs” and recognition they were addictive.

Another decade, another drug

    • For example, the popular diet drug of the 1980s and 90s was fen-phen, which contained appetite suppressants fenfluramine and phentermine.
    • And as history recognises, multiple complexities can combine to push a drug into popularity or damn it to history’s rubbish bin.
    • One noticeable contrast with past diet drug experiences is that now, many people are happy to talk about using Ozempic.
    • It seems to be increasingly socially acceptable to use a drug to achieve weight-loss for primarily aesthetic reasons.

Our enduring search for weight-loss drugs

    • Ozempic is predicted to earn Novo Nordisk US$12.5 billion this year alone, but it’s not just industry interests stoking this enduring desire for weight-loss drugs.
    • Patients on an endless cycle of dieting and exercise want something more convenient, with a more certain outcome.
    • It is no wonder demand for weight-loss drugs continues to soar.
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