The unexpected benefits of weight loss jabs – and the downsides

The weight-loss jabs juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down.While the medicines arrived as obesity treatments only four years ago, the number of people in the UK using the injections is expected to reach one million this year.As relatively new drugs, evidence about their effects on the body is still emerging.

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addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }The weekly injections work by mimicking hormones released after eating that reduce appetite and promote a feeling of fullness.The best-known medicine, semaglutide (sold as Wegovy for weight loss or Ozempic for diabetes) acts like a hormone called GLP-1. A more recent arrival, called tirzepatide (or Mounjaro) mimics both GLP-1 and a second hormone called GIP.

Both have the potential for causing some unpleasant short-term side effects, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.#color-context-related-article-3590987 {--inews-color-primary: #E33A11;--inews-color-secondary: #F7F3EF;--inews-color-tertiary: #E33A11;} Read Next square NEWS .inews__post__label__big-reads{background-color: #0a0a0a;color: #ffffff;}Big ReadThe future of weight loss drugs: gummies, tablets and melt-in-the-mouth stripsRead MoreBut doctors are increasingly interested in the medicines’ longer-term body-wide effects.

Some of them may be a natural consequence of weight loss, while others have come as more of a surprise.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }“People are viewing these medications as being aesthetic, just for losing weight,” said Sarah Le Brocq, founder of patient support group, All About Obesity. “But we’re seeing there are more and more benefits.

”Here, The i Paper takes a look at several of the impacts on the body:Lower blood pressureHigh blood pressure is a major cause of strokes and heart attacks. It is usually treated with medicines that relax blood vessels, for example, or make the heart beat with less force.But weight-loss jabs also lead to a drop in blood pressure, by on average 5 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) in a measure called systolic blood pressure, according to several trials.

This is nearly as big an impact as when people take a specific blood pressure drug. Doctors have said the weight-loss jabs could become a “novel therapeutic strategy” for people with high blood pressure who are overweight.Le Brocq, who uses the injections herself, found they led to her blood pressure normalising.

Improved fertilityWomen are advised to use contraception while using the weight-loss jabs, in case the medicines harm the baby.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }But some people have reported getting pregnant while using the injections. The manufacturers have set up registers to track the health of such babies.

In some cases, the women had been previously struggling to conceive, leading to speculation that the jabs could improve fertility – as well as hashtags like #Ozempicbabies.With millions of people around the world using the injections, some pregnancies are bound to happen. But it’s also possible that weight loss itself improved the women’s fertility, said Professor Richard Donnelly, a metabolic medicine specialist at the University of Nottingham and adviser to Juniper, an online provider of the jabs.

Obesity can reduce fertility because fat cells produce the female sex hormone oestrogen, which can interfere with the menstrual cycle.The weight-loss jabs also improve blood sugar control, which could help those with a condition called PCOS, which involves weight gain and high blood sugar, and also reduces fertility.“If you look at 100 women referred to [obesity] clinics, in a good proportion, when you actually take a history from them, there’s a strong likelihood that they’ve got PCOS, and it’s not been diagnosed,” said Professor Donnelly.

Fighting addictionWeight-loss jabs may help people cut down on booze (Photo: Henri Leduc/Getty Images/Moment RF)The first hints that weight-loss jabs could play a role in treating addictions came from users who reported less desire to drink or take drugs.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l3"}); }Studies showed that people who are using the medicines for weight loss do indeed drink less alcohol, said Dr Mohsen Subhani, a liver specialist at the University of Nottingham. Then, in February, a small randomised trial showed that a low dose of semaglutide cut alcohol cravings and reduced the amount people drank by 40 per cent.

While larger confirmatory trials are ongoing, the hope is that the GLP-1 mimics could eventually become a first-line treatment for alcohol and drug addiction, said Nicholas Reville, director of a US addiction charity called CASPR.The effect probably happens because the drugs quell appetite partly by acting on pathways in the brain that make people desire food. These are the same pathways that are highjacked when we become addicted to drugs or alcohol.

“There are regions of the brain that affect appetite and craving for food, and those same regions also affect appetite and craving for other substances,” said Reville.Dementia preventionAnother surprise is that the medicines may even combat Alzheimer’s disease – although the evidence for this is at an early stage.Americans taking Ozempic for diabetes have a lower rate of Alzheimer’s than those using insulin, another diabetes treatment.

Stronger evidence has come from a recent trial of liraglutide – another GLP-1 mimic – that found it slows brain shrinkage in people who already have Alzheimer’s.Professor Donnelly said the medicines might work by improving the health of blood vessels. “If you use drugs that have favourable effects on vascular function, you improve blood flow to the brain,” he said.

Muscle lossA less welcome consequence of the weight-loss jabs is that people tend to lose muscle as well as fat.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l4"}); }But this is not unexpected. When people put weight on, their muscles and bones naturally get bigger and stronger – otherwise they’d find it hard to move around.

If they lose fat, whether through dieting or medication, muscles shrink too.To make sure people don’t lose too much muscle, people using weight loss jabs are advised to keep up a good exercise regime.‘Ozempic face’Some users of the weight-loss jabs report loss of fat tissue in their face and buttocks.

Some have even reported “Ozempic feet”.Former Towie star Gemma Collins has reportedly regretted a change in the look of her face after using the medicines, although she is pleased with the overall effect on her body.Such downsides are to be expected in anyone who loses a serious amount of weight, especially in older people who have been at a higher weight for some time, said Le Brocq.

“You’re not going to get the bounce-back of the skin like you would have done when you’re younger,” she said. “It’s just one of the consequences of losing weight, unfortunately.”.