It's a drug approved by the FDA to manage type 2 diabetes.

Maybe you've heard the jingle.

"Oh, oh, oh Ozempic."

Or maybe you've seen Ozempic in the news recently for another reason.

"Weight loss..." "...weight loss..." "Easy weight loss." "Miracle Diet Drug."" Miracle weight loss drug."

And it's true.

Ozempic was designed to help people manage their blood sugar, but it's also proven to help people lose weight.

My doctor was like, "This is mainly for blood sugar management, but as a side effects, you will lose weight.”

When I started to notice that, in the first month or so, I had dropped ten pounds, like nothing.

I was like, "There's something to this."

And once you learn why it works, you'll understand how this drug could completely change the way we approach weight loss.

According to the latest data from the National Institutes of Health, around 42% of adults in the US are currently categorized as obese.

The CDC's list of health risks associated with obesity include heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes - diseases that rank among the leading causes of premature death worldwide.

Not everyone living with type 2 diabetes is considered obese, but the two are closely linked.

In fact, one of the leading recommendations for managing type 2 diabetes is weight loss

Even a small amount of weight reduction for people with diabetes can help blood sugar management.

I'm Mila Clarke. I'm 33 years old and I have a type of diabetes called Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.

I reached out to Mila because she runs a YouTube channel, the hangry Woman, where she makes videos about living a healthy life with diabetes.

The thing that I wish that people understood more is how difficult it is to live with both diabetes and obesity.

She's also documented her experience with Ozempic.

It has always been really hard for me to lose weight despite diet and exercise and paying attention to lifestyle habits.

For a long time, doctors have had mixed views on how to make weight loss more accessible to help people lower their risk for illnesses like type 2 diabetes.

One option is weight loss medication.

Historically, weight loss drugs have been associated with dangerous side effects and have been pulled from the market.

Metabolic bariatric surgery is extremely effective for weight loss but it requires dramatic lifestyle changes that can be challenging to maintain.

But with new diabetes drugs like Ozempic scientists have a safe and effective tool for weight loss, and it's based on something that's inside our bodies and already: Hormones.

Hormones are the body's messengers running from one place to another prompting certain cells into action.

When we eat, our bodies produce a bunch of hormones to aid in the process of digestion.

One of them is GLP-1: the hormone that tells us when we're full.

This is a sequence of amino acids that make it up.

And this is Semaglutide, the generic name for Ozempic.

It's made to mimic GLP-1.

Here's why.

When food enters your stomach and begins to work its way through the digestive system, your body releases GLP-1 in the intestine.

There are receptors for GLP-1 in cells all throughout the body that serve different functions when triggered by the hormone.

In the pancreas, GLP-1 receptors promote the production of insulin the hormone that lowers blood sugar levels, and suppress the production of glucagon, the hormone that raises blood sugar levels.

This is important for people with type 2 diabetes whose bodies are insulin resistant and produce very little insulin of their own.

Synthetic insulin is a critical treatment for blood sugar management.

And Semaglutide makes the insulin you do have, whether it's produced naturally or synthetically, work better in your body.

Losing excess fat can also help you become more insulin sensitive.

That's where GLP-1's next receptor comes in.

In the stomach, GLP-1 receptors slow gastric emptying, which means food doesn't move through the digestive system as quickly and you stay fuller for longer.

It slows the digestion of your food which overall helps with blood sugar spikes and it helps you feel fuller for longer so you don't eat as much.

And maybe most importantly, at least in regard to weight loss, there are GLP-1 receptors in the brain, particularly in the hypothalamus that suppress hunger cravings.

That fuller satiety feeling for longer is really helpful.

The digestive system is designed to do all of this naturally but GLP-1-based medications are made to amplify the hormone's numerous health effects.

And it works.

A major clinical trial of Semaglutide in adults showed an average weight reduction of around 15% when paired with an adjusted die and exercise routine compared to a placebo group, which demonstrated a little over 2% weight reduction.

That level of effectiveness rivals the results of metabolic bariatric surgery.

And the fact that I was able to take a once-weekly injection and then all of a sudden the pounds just dropped off.

I was like, "This is wild to me."

These drugs aren't without side effects, the most common being nausea and gastrointestinal effects like diarrhea.

Mila initially stopped taking Ozempic because of a side effect that gave her heart palpitations.

But she's back on it now, and so far, so good.

My blood sugars are great.

I'm having an easier time losing weight and I've amped up my exercise and being outdoors and hiking and running and walking.

And you still have to do all of the other things that everyone has to do to be able to lose weight.

It just makes it a little bit easier, but it's helping me so much with my diabetes management.

The number of prescriptions of Semaglutide has risen dramatically since becoming available in late 2017.

And in 2021, the FDA approved Semaglutide to be prescribed at a higher dose for weight management specifically branded under the name Wegovy.

It was big news and led to this drug getting a lot of attention sort of all at once.

The messaging started to center more around weight loss than it did diabetes which is unfortunate for people with diabetes and people living with obesity.

There are these two groups of people who really need this drug for health purposes but it's being trivialized and kind of looked at as like "Oh, this is an easy weight loss solution"

There are solutions in place now to deal with the sudden high demand for these drugs for people who need them.

Mounjaro, another medication developed specifically for type 2 diabetes is currently being fast-tracked for approval by the FDA to be prescribed for weight loss too.

Now that Ozempic's notoriety helps Semaglutide go mainstream, it and drugs like it will only become more commonly prescribed for weight management.

It's not as simple as "Take this injection and you won't be living with obesity anymore." or "You'll reverse your diabetes."

But as a community, we get really excited to see innovations happen and tools that can mak our lives a little easier and that can cause less diabetes burnout and helps you think about diabetes less.

It's one of those things that I think all of us want to protect at all costs.