Five Reasons Why Wegovy Is A Bad Choice
Here are five solid reasons why Novo's weight loss drug Wegovy is in most cases an inappropriate choice for overweight people.
Firstly, Wegovy (semaglutide) only provides temporary and not permanent weight loss in most cases. The lost pounds will return when you stop taking the medication. It's basically the same effect as a powder diet; it works fine while you're on it, and then you're lost because you haven't really learned anything sustainable and useful by poking yourself in the stomach or swallowing a shake.
Secondly, Wegovy (semaglutide) is a very expensive medication, which increases the likelihood that people will stop treatment when they can no longer afford it and the weight will swing back up again. Of course, one could argue that the increasing poverty when taking Wegovy can be addressed by spending less money on food, allowing people to both survive financially and lose more weight, but this hidden mechanism of action behind Novo's expensive weight loss medication is ethically problematic. The reason the drug is so expensive for patients and society is primarily because Novo wants to make an enormous amount of money from overweight people. If the medicine was expensive to produce, Novo's financial statements would look completely different.
Thirdly, Wegovy (semaglutide) carries a high risk of nausea. This is listed as a side effect, but it is also one of the mechanisms behind the weight loss effect. When you feel nauseous, you eat less. When you quickly feel nauseous from eating, you stop eating faster. This means you miss out on the pleasure of eating without nausea, thus avoiding learning how to use pleasure to hedonically regulate eating through mindful eating. Additionally, pleasure is healthy in itself as it reduces stress and improves brain function.
Fourth, Wegovy (semaglutide) carries an increased risk of several serious side effects and diseases. The alternative to weight loss medication is lifestyle changes that either do not increase the risk or actually lower the risk of the side effects and diseases that can follow the Novo drug.
Fifth, it is possible to achieve at least as effective and much more sustainable weight loss without Wegovy (semaglutide). This can be done by introducing lifestyle changes (especially dietary changes and increased physical activity) with a specific psychological approach based on self-determination, mindfulness, integrated motivation and small steps. Such an integrated multidisciplinary approach is very different from seeing a dietician, psychologist and personal trainer. It's a new treatment paradigm with great potential for impact, and it's also inexpensive for both the individual and the community.
It is therefore my opinion that Wegovy and other prescription weight loss drugs should only be introduced once it has been proven that integrated nutritional psychology treatment does not work well enough. The preliminary research is promising, but much more research needs to be done, which one fears is being held down by the diet, exercise and pharmaceutical industries, who are all feeding off the confusion and the fact that most people have very poor long-term weight loss results with diet and physical activity (unless they are being watched by a TV crew, which apparently can have a dramatic impact on adherence and thus efficacy).
