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It seems like everyone and their uncle wants to get their hands on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for weight loss. But these medications may also come with an increased risk for severe gastrointestinal problems, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) found that patients taking GLP-1 drugs had a higher likelihood of developing stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstruction compared to individuals using bupropion-naltrexone, another weight loss medication. The research, published on October 5, is the first large epidemiological study to focus on gastrointestinal issues in nondiabetic patients who use these medications for weight loss.
“There have been anecdotal reports of some patients using these drugs for weight loss and then presenting with repeated episodes of nausea and vomiting secondary to a condition referred to as gastroparesis,” Mahyar Etminan, the study’s senior author and an epidemiologist and ophthalmology and visual sciences professor at the UBC Faculty of Medicine, said in a statement. “But until now, there hasn’t been any data from large epidemiologic studies.”
While GLP-1 medications—such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Mounjaro—were developed to treat diabetes, the demand for the drugs as a weight management tool has surged since 2019, Healthcare Brew previously reported.
The UBC study analyzed insurance claim records from 2006–2020 for about 16 million US patients who had been prescribed semaglutide or liraglutide—the two main active ingredients in GLP-1s—or bupropion-naltrexone to see how many patients from each group developed a gastrointestinal condition. Researchers only included patients who had a recent history of obesity, and excluded those who had diabetes or had been prescribed another diabetes medication.
Patients taking GLP-1 medications were about 9x more likely to develop pancreatitis and over 4x higher risk of bowel obstruction compared to those on bupropion-naltrexone, the study found. GLP-1 medication use also led to nearly a 4x higher likelihood of developing gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, versus bupropion-naltrexone use, according to the study.
These conditions may require hospitalization and/or surgery depending on the severity, according to the researchers.
However, millions of patients across the US use these medications, according to Stat News, and these adverse events are comparatively rare. Still, GLP-1 use may lead to hundreds of thousands of patients experiencing gastrointestinal side effects, according to the researchers.
The study authors said they hope their findings prompt regulatory agencies and drug manufacturers to update warning labels for the medication and include gastroparesis as a potential side effect.
The research also comes as drug manufacturers face scrutiny over labeling drug side effects.
In August, a Louisiana resident who developed gastroparesis after taking both Ozempic and Mounjaro sued Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in a US District Court for failing to warn patients about the risks of gastrointestinal issues in relation to their medications, NBC News reported.
“These drugs are becoming increasingly accessible, and it is concerning that, in some cases, people can simply go online and order these kinds of medications when they may not have a full understanding of what could potentially happen. This goes directly against the mantra of informed consent,” Mohit Sodhi, the study’s author and a UBC medical student researching the adverse events of common medications, said in a statement.