Rabat – Smoking kills, so do other diseases, other challenges, and other issues that we either underestimate or are truly unaware of the dangers they pose, including obesity.
In response to gaining weight, many people resort to quick methods to shed some pounds, including those influenced by social media trends.
Other methods also include injections. You may already have been noticing a trend on your feed, whether on Instagram, TikTok, or any of your favorite social media platforms. Numerous individuals are publicly demonstrating the self-injection of a sort of liquid into their bodies.
At first, you might think they are diabetic. Some could be – but others aren’t.
Briefing you on Ozempic and Mounjaro
So, what is this magical injection? It is actually Mounjaro or Ozempic, drugs that help control blood sugar levels in diabetic people. However, both medicines are now used to help people lose significant weight.
In September, the World Health Organization updated its list of essential medicines for weight loss.
Reports emphasized that its expert committee added the active ingredients in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro to the list to treat type 2 diabetes in conjunction with established cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or obesity.
Ozempic, or Semaglutide, is also an anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, as well as an anti-obesity medication used for long-term weight management.
Long before the news, many people have already been using these medicines to help with weight loss, with proven results.
Several reports have quoted researchers who admitted Mounjaro’s positive effect on weight loss.
In a report in April, The Guardian quoted a study as establishing that patients who used Mounjaro could sustain weight loss over three years.
Often called the “King Kong” of weight loss medicines, it contains tirzepatide, an injection that treats type 2 diabetes.
The other injection, Mounjaro, mimics two hormones known as GLP-1 and GIP. This not only causes appetite suppression but also increases the body’s production of insulin, causing “greater insulin sensitivity and a reduction in the rate at which food is emptied from the stomach,” according to the Guardian.
Is it used in Morocco?
A recent report shows that Morocco recorded an adult obesity rate of 13.79% this year, ranking it among African countries with the highest obesity rates.
The report by the African Exponent shows cities like Casablanca and Rabat, as well as Marrakech, reflect the sharpest increases in obesity rates due to changing diets, sedentary jobs, and the rapid spread of processed and fast food.
Morocco World News (MWN) talked to health and nutrition experts who shared their insights on the use of medicines like Mounjaro to tackle obesity, which is a real-time challenge in Morocco.
Dr. Yousra Aouinati, a diabetologist, endocrinologist, thyroid interventionist, and an obesity specialist, told MWN that the use of trizepatide in Morocco “is so limited, because the treatment isn’t commercialised yet.”
She acknowledged that some patients, who reside in other countries and bring the treatment. “And as a specialist, I follow them in my clinic,” she added.
Dr. Aouinati, who is a member of the board of the Moroccan Society of Diabetology (SMD), warned that there are some social media pages that attempt to sell trizepatide illegally.
“I advise people to avoid these channels, because sometimes fake treatments are sold as Mounjaro. So I recommend that people avoid obtaining the treatment through these illegal channels,” she added.
Is it safe?
When regulated through professional medical channels, Dr. Aouinati is among the experts who agree on the effectiveness of trizepatide for weight loss, compared to other treatments like semaglutide (main ingredient of Ozempic).
“Obesity is a chronic disease with several complications, notably metabolic, cardiac, and bone-related, and it must be absolutely treated,” she said.
Describing it as a global scourge, the health expert emphasized that management of obesity starts fundamentally with healthy lifestyle habits, including a balanced diet, regular physical activity, and stress management, in addition to good-quality sleep.
Of course, in the case of a certain degree of obesity or complications, experts prescribe medical treatment, including Mounjaro.
“We start with small doses with medical and biological monitoring to detect any side effects. We try to anticipate by giving certain advice to our patients to help them better tolerate the treatment and achieve better effectiveness,” the health expert added.
Dr. Aouinati said that similar cases lead to “very good results in terms of weight loss, especially loss of fat mass.” However, if the prescribing rules are not followed and there is a lack of monitoring, the patients could encounter digestive complications that are sometimes poorly tolerated, as well as loss of muscle mass.
The expert emphasized that since November 1, semaglutide has been marketed in Morocco, acknowledging, however, that triepatide is shown in some studies as more effective.
In August, US President Donald Trump exerted pressure on medicine producers to increase prices of weight-loss jabs, particularly Mounjaro, in other countries, particularly the UK, to limit the sky-high costs for Americans.
This move came as Eli Lilly, the US manufacturer of the drug, announced plans to increase the price for the medicine starting in September.
Trump pledged “every tool” to end charging higher prices in the US compared to other countries, making them more affordable for everyday Americans.
The Guardian reported that Trump sent letters to the biggest manufacturers, calling for a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity.
“But if you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices,” Trump reportedly said in his letters.
The Guardian said Trump also cited a conversation with his friend in London, who informed him he bought the “Fat shot drug” for $88 compared with $1,300 in New York.
To center it back to Morocco, when officially marketed, Dr. Aouinati expects tirzepatide to be commercialized at MAD 1,200 ($120).
Extreme diets cause weight regain
Dr. Asmaa Zriouel, a specialist in nutrition, prevention, and obesity, and a professor in higher education, agrees that weight loss could be tackled with a balanced diet and regular physical activity, identifying extreme diets like intermittent fasting and keto as unhealthy.
“To be clear, unbalanced diets such as keto, strict veganism, single-food diets, and intermittent fasting are all diets that harm a person’s health and cause weight re-gain,” she told MWN.
The clinical nutrition specialist emphasized that the best method, of course, is a balanced, healthy diet, “away from extreme diets and the challenges we see on social media that lead to loss of muscle mass and appetite disorders.” “We are not talking about unbalanced diets,” she clarified.
For her, balanced diets that respect each need are the concrete solution for obesity.
“And this is something that only a nutrition specialist with academic training can do, and not only people who have only a certain certificate as a nutritionist, because it requires science and study, not just a type of diet,” she added in her interview with MWN.
“Physical activity is very important in this process,” she explained. “I help patients to lose weight permanently by building a balanced and personal nutrition plan adapted to their case.”
Regarding Mounjaro, the nutritionist emphasized how similar injections are not suitable for all cases.
“It is the doctor who decides for people who may have complications from obesity and others,” she warned, emphasizing that its use should be accompanied by a balanced system that reduces side effects.
Their use also needs a suitable nutritional diet tailored to each patient and their habit.
“If it is prescribed by doctors, and patients lose considerable amounts of weight, after this process, the person concerned should be committed to a balanced nutritional system. If not, they will return the same weight or more later,” she said.
Perception vs truth
Trusting your house mirror can sometimes be deceiving. Indeed, many academic and scientific papers that have explored the consequences of actual weight and perceptions indicate that numbers on the scale differ from the image in the mirror.
The US government-affiliated National Library of Medicine published a study that acknowledged how they both often differ and are jointly consequential.
“In a society that provides adolescents with discordant weight messages, understanding the impact of mismatched weight and weight perceptions is critical for clinicians and policy makers interested in alleviating their negative consequences,” the study’s abstract says.
The urgency to lose weight very quickly leaves room to short-lived solutions, which range from fast diets for 48 hours straight, drinking only water, or trying juicing, among others.
While generalizations are not recommended and are to be avoided, it is a common experience that one may feel confident about their appearance in the mirror, only to have this self-esteem shattered when their favorite sweater doesn’t fit anymore.
Yet, as medical experts assert, the best foot forward is to trust in the dieting process, seek medical advice, and trust one’s body before choosing the weight-loss jabs sensationalized on social media. If you are trying to lose a pound, it is best to seek this sound advice first.
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