Obesity is defined by Word Obesity Federation as a chronic, recurrence and progressive disease. According to a recent Report of the World Obesity Foundation, 51% of the population will be obese or overweight by 2035. Certainly worrying perspective, with the size of a real epidemic that some experts call the “Globesity“.
Both on Instagram and on Tik Tok in recent months, the videos and posts of influencers, actresses and other characters of important media relevance have multiplied, showing the use of injections of Semaglutide as a remedy for the kg too much.
In fact, they claim that with these injections they would have managed to lose weight quickly and without any effort or without significantly changing their eating habits and their lifestyles.
What is the semaglutide?
It is a molecule that, for a few years, has been used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. It is part of the category of GLP-1 receptor agonists and in addition to promoting control of the blood glucose levels, it acts as appetite regulator and the sense of hunger.
The traffic druglutide drug, at the moment, in Italy is not present on the market with indication to the treatment of overweight and obesity, also spread its use “off label”.
What effect does it have on weight loss?
A recent study (Wadden Ta et al., 2021), has shown that adults with overweight or obesity treated with trafficlutide show a significant loss of weight compared to the control group.
After about 36 weeks from the start of treatment with traffic lights, people lose about 16% of their initial weight. After the 36th week, the loss reaches a plateau always reaching around 16% of the initial weight.
Another interesting study (Bezin J., et al., 2022) shows how, after 68 weeks of treatment with traffic lights, the suspension of the drug leads to a rapid weight recovery in the following 52 weeks.
This makes you deduce that to obtain and maintain a good result on weight loss, the drug must be taken throughout the course of life.
What side effects are there?
Some studies show that the use of Glp-1 receptor agonists increases the risk of thyroid cancer.
At the moment we have no long -term safety data, nor controlled studies on their long -term effectiveness (all studies refer to a period not exceeding 2 years) on adults and adolescents.
Is taking care with the prescription of drugs (according to the biomedical model) is really functional?
The drugs, such as the traffic lights, act on some biological mechanisms responsible for maintaining obesity, however:
- they do not help people develop skills and skills to manage cognitive and environmental maintenance factors;
- The person who knows to take care of his obesity or overweight with the sole use of a molecule, totally relies on an external solution and will tend to take on a passive role.
Some authors are asking themselves about the possibility of integrating the use of weight loss drugs with one Cognitive behavioral therapy for obesity (CBT-OB).
The advantages of integrating cognitive behavioral therapy for obesity (CBT-OB) to drug therapy could be:
- Better adherence to therapy;
- Help patients face behavioral habits and dysfunctional thoughts that hinder weight loss and maintenance.
However, some potential problems may emerge in an integrated approach:
- Increase in costs for treatment;
- Assuming a passive role in the treatment, the patient could attribute weight loss to the use of the drug sole and underestimate the importance of dealing with dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts. This would lead not to increase a good self -efficacy and not effectively use the procedures and techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy for obesity (CBT-OB).
Conclusions
Surely drugs can open new paths of care for obesity, but it remains of fundamental importance that patients can experimental an active role in their treatment. This in order to modify, through cognitive behavioral strategies, also dysfunctional thoughts and habits that can maintain obesity and overweight and be important risk factors for repercussions.
Bibliography
AIDAP National Congress 2023, Florence 12-13 May
