Weight loss drugs like Wegovy may trigger eating disorders in some patients, doctors warn
UC expert featured in NBC News article
GLP-1 drugs, sold under brand names including Ozempic and Wegovy, are growing more popular for weight loss, but experts say they can also be triggering or worsening eating disorders in some people.
NBC News highlighted a case study published by the University of Cincinnati's Susan McElroy, MD, and colleagues. A woman diagnosed with an eating disorder for 28 years and with a history of abusing medications to lose weight had been prescribed a GLP-1 drug for weight loss. The woman lost 50 pounds in nine months, but she confided that she often took more medication than prescribed “when she felt she ate too much” and was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts.
In the case study, McElroy and her coauthors said doctors should screen for eating disorders and monitor patients' weight carefully when deciding whether to prescribe a GLP-1.
McElroy, the Linda and Harry Fath endowed professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience in UC’s College of Medicine and chief research officer at the Lindner Center of HOPE, said she and her colleagues screen all potential patients for eating disorders, as well as depression, anxiety and substance-use disorders.
More research is needed on GLP-1's effectiveness in treating binge eating disorder specifically, McElroy added.
Featured photo at top of a semaglutide injection pen. Photo/aprott/iStock.
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