A slew of new weight loss drugs are being tested in 2025. They will follow the blockbuster drug Ozempic, whose maker the Danish company Novo Nordisk is now the most valuable company in Europe with a market capitalisation worth more than the Danish economy.
Studies following the boom in the worldwide sales and usage of these drugs are revealing potential side effects, such as increased risks of pancreatitis and arthritis.
Doctors in India have reported seeing cases of stomach paralysis evidently caused by unsupervised and incorrect use of weight loss drugs. Earlier studies had indicated increased risk of stomach paralysis from the use of such drugs.
For proper, medically supervised use of weight loss drugs, correct measurement of a person’s obesity is an important initial requirement.
January this year, The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Commission proposed new diagnostic criteria of obesity based on body fat or adiposity to replace the guidelines based on Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements.
BMI is calculated as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2).
Although obesity is a continuum, individuals with preclinical obesity symptoms are classified as healthy and those with clinical obesity are classified as ill.
The Lancet Commission recommends that people with preclinical obesity should undergo health counselling, monitoring of their health status over time, and, when applicable, appropriate intervention to reduce risk of developing clinical obesity and other obesity-related diseases.
It does not generally require treatment with drugs or surgery, and might need only monitoring of health over time and health counseling.
Measuring it right:
Even though obesity is because of body fat, BMI does not directly measure body fat. In clinical scenarios, it acts as a surrogate measurement for body fat.
The National Family Health Survey – 5 says that one in every four Indians is obese, which requires screening and treatment to be given utmost importance. There are 135 million people who are classified as obese.
This, however, is according to the BMI-based guidelines.
The BMI-only measure of obesity is also problematic in India for another reason. South Asians typically have high body fat even though they may have a normal BMI.
Obesity is complex. It is possible for a person with high BMI and a large girth to be quite fit, as the example of Japanese sumo wrestlers shows.
A proper assessment of clinical obesity and the need for treatment is therefore essential at the individual level before choosing any particular course of action.
About author: Ayisha Siddiqua is Visiting Faculty at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi-NCR
This is an abridged version. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
