CosBeauty Magazine #102

FEATURE
month – has led to a shortage of
semaglutide medications for people
who medically need them.
‘We’ve had instances where
patients have not been able to get
some of their current medications
for their diabetes, because there is a
shortage of those due to the uptick
of patients using this off label for
weight loss,’ says Dr Andrew Straw,
associate professor of pharmacy
practice at Cedarville University in
the US.
Dr Steven Heymsfield, a
professor of metabolism and body
composition at Louisiana State
University in the US, agrees that
unintended use, as opposed to
prioritising semaglutide for treating
chronic obesity, is worrying.
‘I’m very concerned about this
rage for these GLP-1 agonists,’ he
told Verywellhealth.com. ‘These
drugs should be used for people
who really need them and have
health risks from obesity who’ve
tried many times to lose weight,
and not by Hollywood actors and
actresses who are trying to lose
10 pounds.’
Further, Dr Paul Jarrod Frank,
a dermatologic surgeon in New
York, warns that off-label use of
semaglutide may come with more
than just weight loss. ‘Using this
drug to maintain a body weight
that is low for one’s frame is not
the intended purpose and is most
likely a dangerous and unsustainable
use of the medication,’ he told
Allure.com.
MALNUTRITION &
‘OZEMPIC FACE’
Another risk of Ozempic use is
malnutrition. Dr Andrew Wong, an
internal medicine specialist in the
US, told healthnews.com: ‘Some
patients who have been taking
Ozempic for a while have reported
symptoms of eating disorders, such
as abnormal eating patterns, meal
skipping and late-night munching.
Others lost the elasticity and the
collagen in the muscles in the
face, which may be a symptom of
malnourishment.’
US plastic surgeons have reported
an increase in patients seeking
treatment for ‘Ozempic face’ and
‘Ozempic body’ – the loose, sagging
skin caused by rapidly losing weight
after taking Ozempic and Wegovy.
Semaglutide drugs themselves
do not cause loose skin, but it can
cause patients to lose weight faster
than other forms of weight-loss
methods, including bariatric surgery.
Dr Paul Jarrod Frank first coined
the term ‘Ozempic face’ after many
of his middle-aged patients would
come in with gaunt faces after
losing a lot of body weight in a short
period of time while on the weightloss
drug.
Dr Dhaval Bhanusali, a NY
dermatologist, told The New York
Times that he’s seen an increase
in patients on semaglutide
medications who are concerned
about facial ageing and sagging.
‘We are seeing more and more
patients on the medications coming
in,’ he said. ‘Generally, it’s people
in their 40s and 50s who are losing
significant amounts of weight and
are concerned about facial ageing
and sagging that occurs as a result.’
New York plastic surgeon Dr
Ryan Neinstein, who regularly treats
Editorial credit: Natalia Varlei / Shutterstock.com
patients seeking treatment for
loose skin after bariatric surgery,
told insider.com that he’s
increasingly seeing people with
the same issue, or ‘even stretchier,
looser skin than bariatric patients’,
after taking Ozempic – due to
‘muscle mass and fat decreasing
so quickly’.
Dr Neinstein noted loose skin
after weight loss can be temporary,
and most people see skin return
to normal 6-18 months following
bariatric surgery; hence, his first
approach in helping Ozempic
patients is the same as with bariatric
surgery: encouraging patience and
plenty of exercise.