‘Budget Ozempic’: five ways this dangerous TikTok trend will harm your health

By Swrajit Sarkar, City, University of London

Social media is obsessed with the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic. But Ozempic’s ability to control blood sugar isn’t the reason it’s so popular online. Instead, the drug is trending because it has been shown in clinical trials to cause weight loss in diabetic patients taking it.

This has led to an uptick in the number of people trying to get their hands on Ozempic in the hopes of losing weight – even though the Ozempic is not recommended for weight loss. The drug’s soaring popularity online has not only contributed to shortages and bootleg versions of the drug, it’s also led to an influx of harmful diet trends.

One of these diet trends circulating on social media is what some have dubbed “Budget Ozempic”. Budget Ozempic is in fact not at all related to Ozempic, nor does it contain semaglutide – the drug component which is the active ingredient in Ozempic. In most cases, what people online are calling “budget Ozempic”, actually refers to laxatives and stool softeners.

There are many reasons why you should avoid using “budget Ozempic” if you’re trying to lose weight – least of which is because they only have a small, short-term effect on weight loss. Laxatives and stool softeners are not designed to be used long-term, nor are they indicated for weight loss. Using them improperly can be harmful for many reasons.

Dehydration

Some types of laxatives work by bringing water from elsewhere in the body into the intestines in order to soften the stool and make it easier to pass. But abuse of laxatives and stool softeners can lead to water loss and dehydration. This may lead to short-term symptoms such as feeling more tired or thirsty than usual, as well as dizziness and lightheadedness.

Water loss can also trigger the body’s renin-angiotensen response. The key function of this response is to keep fluids and blood pressure balanced. If too much water is lost in a short period of time, it will eventually cause fluid retention.

Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/budget-ozempic-five-ways-this-dangerous-tiktok-trend-will-harm-your-health-221268

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