Some sufferers declare well-liked weight reduction medication are inflicting hair loss

News

By Patrick Reilly

April 22, 2023 | 8:10pm

Well-liked new weight reduction medication Ozempic and Wegovy have been serving to folks to shed kilos, however some customers have additionally reported shedding their hair in addition to an alarming aspect impact.

The pricey injectable drugs have change into a sensation among the many Hollywood elite, however social media teams for folks taking the remedy embrace posts about hair loss, according to NBC News.

Semaglutide — higher identified by model names Ozempic and Wegovy — had been initially made for folks affected by Sort 2 diabetes, however the medication have change into more and more prescribed for weight reduction. Tirzepatide, bought beneath the model identify Mounjaro for diabetics, has additionally jumped on the scene.

Presently, solely Wegovy is FDA-approved for weight reduction whereas Ozempic and Mounjaro are prescribed off-label by docs.

The medication have emerged as a preferred different to gastric bypass surgical procedure, which regularly comes with many risks and complications.

Whereas studies of hair loss as a aspect impact of the medication are unnerving, Dr. Vijaya Surampudi, assistant director of the UCLA weight administration program in Los Angeles, instructed NBC that it’s not widespread.

“Hair loss is unlikely associated to the medication,” mentioned Surampudi, who has endorsed sufferers who’ve skilled hair loss whereas on the medicines, “however extra doubtless associated to weight reduction that could be a results of these medication.”

Ozempic doesn’t checklist hair loss as a aspect impact, nonetheless 3% of sufferers reported hair loss throughout Wegovy’s scientific trials, in accordance with NBC. Whereas they’re the identical drug, Wegovy is a better dose.

In a scientific trial for tirzepatide, 6% of sufferers taking a better dose reported alopecia, whereas 1% of these given a placebo reported hair loss.

Tirzepatide drugmaker Eli Lilly instructed NBC in a press release that the hair loss noticed within the trials was typically momentary, noting that “hair loss is a aspect impact that has been related to important weight reduction in lots of earlier scientific trials for weight problems remedy.”

Surampudi mentioned that hair loss is a standard aspect impact of main weight reduction, as it may be spurred by stress.

The load loss medication suppress urge for food, “surprising the system,” Surampudi mentioned.

These taking the remedy can lose as much as 20% of their physique weight in six to 12 months earlier than weight reduction plateaus, NBC reported.