For colleagues in the medical research field, we will, God willing, dedicate a long meeting to discuss the paper in a way that provides them with research skills. Registration for this specialized meeting is through this link: https://www.medone.academy/research-skills-live-event-medone
Peace be upon you, dear audience. We previously published a survey about the use of "Ozempic" for weight loss, in which several followers participated, and we wrote a scientific paper that was published in a prestigious journal, by the grace of God.
In this segment, I would like to mention the results of the research to the general public outside the medical and research fields; respecting the desire of many brothers to know the results. As for the brothers in the medical research field, we will dedicate an interactive meeting to you in which we will review the results and answer your questions, God willing, as there are important benefits for researchers wishing to learn the best methods of scientific research and critical research thinking.
Returning to the brothers outside the medical research field; our paper, dear audience, did not include the side effects and reasons for stopping the medication, which we intend to write another paper about, God willing. Instead, our paper focused on three things:
Those who met the research criteria and completed the survey were 626 participants from 29 countries; 45% of them were male and 55% female. 31% of them had diabetes, and their average weight was 101.4 kilograms.
Regarding user behavior, it was found that 30.6% of them took the drug without a prescription or doctor's advice. Of these:
This entails potential harm, misuse, and randomness in increasing or stopping doses. We found that the highest rate of taking Ozempic without a prescription was in Jordan.
The results showed that 60% of users stop Ozempic early. We defined "early discontinuation" in our study as stopping the drug before completing three months of use, provided that this period includes at least one month with a dose of 1 mg.
Although there is no strictly defined medical definition of early discontinuation, we adopted this definition because the person should give the drug a chance to show its effect. This percentage (60%) is a form of waste, as many use it randomly and for short periods known in advance to be of little benefit. It was also noticed that those who took the drug based on a doctor's prescription continued it for longer periods.
It was also found that the vast majority (92%) take it solely for weight loss or for both weight loss and diabetes. Scientifically, "semaglutide" under the name "Ozempic" is not used for weight loss according to approved treatment recommendations, but the recommended one for this purpose is "Wegovy," which is the same scientific substance but under a different brand name.
Regarding the effectiveness of Ozempic, the average weight loss was "clinically significant" (i.e., equal to or more than 5% of body weight) for most groups that continued it for a period of no less than 8 to 12 weeks, even on low doses (0.25 or 0.5 mg).
For clarification: if a person's weight was 100 kg and became 95 kg, this is a significant medical loss as it reduces the risk of heart and artery diseases. Our experience did not observe a significant statistical difference between the effects of the three doses (0.25, 0.5, 1 mg) in weight loss. This does not necessarily mean there is no difference in reality, but the nature of "real-world studies" faces challenges such as the great diversity in user behavior and responses.
In conclusion, do we recommend using Ozempic for weight loss? For me, I always advise good eating habits, strengthening willpower, and exercising. I lament the huge amounts spent on these drugs instead of being used to feed the hungry and other things that benefit people. The capitalism that consolidates the consumer dietary pattern is the same one that benefits from selling these drugs that bring in billions annually.
Finally, I would like to emphasize the need to beware of fake clips using artificial intelligence that show me promoting fake medical products. I do not promote any product, but we only announce our courses through "Medawy Academy."
For colleagues in the research field, we will provide you with a link to register for a special meeting in which we will discuss the technical details and research skills of this paper.
Peace be upon you.