(light music) (bright upbeat music) - Some say Ozempic and Wegovy are weight loss wonder drugs.

Some people, including celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk, have admitted to taking the drugs to lose weight, even though, especially Ozempic, the drug is primarily used to treat diabetes.

Dr. David Trachtenbarg with Carle Health specializes in studying and treating diabetes, and he's here to help us break down the pros and cons of Ozempic and similar drugs.

Doctor, thanks for coming in.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me.

- Well, just before we started taping this, I saw another story on the national news about Ozempic.

It's everywhere now, especially that these celebrities are taking it, and it's on social media.

First, let's talk about the drug and its intended use in helping diabetics.

What does the drug do?

- So Ozempic, semaglutide is the generic name, was originally marketed for use for diabetes, but it also causes significant weight loss.

Actually, the Ozempic is roughly equivalent to one shot a day of long-acting insulin, as far as helping diabetes.

It has many advantages.

One is insulin tends to cause weight gain and low blood sugar, at least the risk of low blood sugar, while Ozempic causes weight loss.

So most people with Type 2 diabetes, which is the most common type of diabetes, need to lose weight.

So clearly, the Ozempic has a lot of advantages, and nationally, it has lessened the use for insulin.

A few years ago, I saw some data the percentage of diabetes patients that needed to take insulin had dropped by about 10%.

I imagine it's probably a little bit higher now, because fewer people with diabetes now need to take insulin.

- Okay, so basically Ozempic has a great side effect.

Is that too general of a statement?

- Weight loss is a much better side effect.

It also, unlike insulin, which tends to be relatively neutral, it reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

- Okay.

Now, with this being prescribed, I don't know that many doctors are saying, "You know what?

"You need to lose weight.

"I have an idea, here's some Ozempic."

It sounds like it's more the patients seeing commercials, reading on social media, saying, "I'd like to lose weight.

"Can you prescribe me Ozempic?"

If they're not a diabetic, what does that mean for them?

I mean, they can obviously lose weight, I guess, but what are the pros and cons- - Okay.

- Of someone without diabetes taking Ozempic?

- So the drug is approved for people that are overweight with risk factors, and people that are obese.

So there's a lot of people that qualify.

There's also many barriers.

Ozempic currently costs, the retail price, the pharmacy is about $1,000 a month.

- Wow.

- So that's a pretty big cost.

Also, if you look at weight loss on the average, people lose about 15, 16 pounds over usually four to six months.

And after that, you stop losing weight.

Unfortunately, if you stop the drug, chances are that you'll slowly regain the weight.

- Okay- - So it doesn't, doesn't really give you long-term 15, 16 pound weight loss.

- Sure, now, when we talk about the drug helping you to lose weight, what does it actually do?

Does it make you feel fuller?

Is that how it works?

Or is it something with your brain?

- So there's actually three things to look at.

One is the most common side effect of the drug is nausea, and sometimes, that can be very severe, and people have to even stop the drug.

And so, a lot of people think wrongly that because people feel nauseated oftentimes as a side effect of the drug that causes the weight loss.

However, they found the people that get nauseated and the people that don't get nauseated from the drug both have the same weight loss.

The other aspect of the drug is what you mentioned.

The drug does slow down the emptying of the stomach.

Because of that, if people have problems with emptying their stomach, the drug has, may be contraindicated, not, they shouldn't be using it.

However, it turns out the gastric emptying, for most people, but not everybody, goes back to normal after they've been on the drug a while for most people.

So it looks like the main reason why the drug works is it gets into the brain and suppresses the appetite.

- But if you're not continually, and it's one shot a week, correct?

- One shot a week.

- So if you're not continually doing that, eventually, your brain's gonna go back to- - Correct.

- Wanting to eat again.

- Correct, and some people when they stop the drug will tell me, "Oh, I was doing great.

"I lost weight, I kept it off.

"When I stopped the drug, I just have a ravenous appetite "that I can't control."

- Okay.

So would you consider this a, quote, unquote, "wonder drug"?

- It's definitely an excellent drug, but I would not call it a wonder drug, in spite of the fact you may be aware of the Ozempic ad uses a song called, "It's Magic."

- Yup.

You got the song stuck in my- - It's probably not magic.

- That's right.

Well, and with these drug commercials, you know, they're usually a minute, minute and a half long.

Halfway through, they go through the side effects, but they still show everyone being happy and healthy, and doing everything they want.

As a doctor, if someone came to you and they did not have diabetes, but they wanted this drug to help them lose weight, what goes through your mind when they ask you that?

- Well, personally, I would discourage them from using the drug, because it's a expensive way of losing.

15, 16 pounds is a substantial amount of weight, but they have to keep on using it to keep the weight off.

Ideally, people should lose weight by diet, exercise, and reducing their caloric intake.

- Sure, and you know, we talk about a wonder drug.

Everybody wants a wonder drug for whatever ails them.

There's nothing wrong with wanting that, but I've also read that, you know, if you're going to take something like Ozempic, it's not a wonder drug in terms of you still have to eat right, you still have to exercise, watch your calories, all that good stuff.

- Exactly.

For example, if you lose weight and you don't exercise, you're gonna lose more muscle and you may actually end up weaker.

- Sure, now, for people who you do treat who do have diabetes, Ozempic has been a pretty good drug for them?

- Definitely, and as I mentioned, if people reach the point where they may have a choice between Ozempic and a once a day insulin shot, I think on, for most patients, everybody's different, but for most patients, the Ozempic would be a better choice.

- Mmm-hmm.

Yeah, we did mention Ozempic is probably the drug that gets the most publicity, but there's also other drugs out there.

Can you tell us about those and the differences maybe- - Sure, there is a competitor that's also once a week called Trulicity.

That has roughly equivalent effects as the Ozempic.

And then there's a new drug from Eli Lilly called Mounjaro.

Currently, the evidence is that has about 50%, or more weight loss than Ozempic and slightly better improvement to the blood sugar.

Unfortunately, that's even more expensive than the Ozempic.

- Yeah, you mentioned, you know, I've read that Ozempic, if you don't have insurance, can be $1,000 a month, give, or take.

Do you find most insurance companies, do they cover Ozempic for people who do not have diabetes?

- Drugs for weight loss are often, including Ozempic and Mounjaro, are oftentimes not covered by insurance.

- Okay.

So for people out there who want to lose weight, you know, and as a doctor, I'm sure you've seen plenty of folks out there who need, who not only want to lose weight, they need to lose weight to live longer.

What are some options for them?

What advice would you give them?

- I think, you know, if we look at the causes, some of the potential causes of weight loss, one is food everywhere.

When I was growing up, the gas stations, for example, did not really have food.

Now, every place you go, gas station, department store, has food, where people are not only eating more calories, they're also eating more often, which also makes people more prone to diabetes.

About 50 years ago, the average number of meals, times a person ate and put food in their mouth was three.

Now, the average nationally is up to six.

People are eating twice as often.

Also, I think it's important to cut down the sugars in the diet, particularly the simple sugars, like high fructose corn syrup and sucrose, and avoid the foods that are high in carbohydrates, like rice, potatoes, white bread.

Cut down on those foods.

Having a lower carb, higher protein diet, protein is more satisfying.

Carbs do not cut the appetite as much.

So those are all things, in addition to exercise, that people can do.

- How long have you been a doctor?

- About 40 years now.

- About 40 years.

How have you seen the problem of diabetes progress throughout those 40 years?

Are we seeing more people, less people, about the same?

- So right now, we have a national epidemic of obesity, and the more you weigh, the more likely you are to develop diabetes.

So diabetes is skyrocketing over the years, and we know that in the states where people have, are more likely to be obese, they're also more likely to have diabetes.

But what I tell people, "It's not good to have diabetes."

It's not a good disease.

But the treatment of diabetes has dramatically improved with drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic that can control diabetes better than what we had in the past.

- Have you heard either from colleagues, pharmacists, whomever in our area, that more and more people are asking for Ozempic to lose weight, or are the pharmacists filling more scripts for Ozempic?

- Well, what's developed is we've had a shortage, and actually at the end of last year, we had an extreme shortage.

People that needed the Ozempic for their diabetes had to call around to multiple pharmacies to find a place where it was available.

I know you said you're gonna be talking to a pharmacist- - Yeah.

- And my impression right now is that that is less than it was, but it still hasn't, the shortage hasn't completely gone away.

- Is there anything from an ethical standpoint, like let's say you know there's a shortage of a drug that can potentially save someone's life, or could potentially just help them lose 15 or 16 pounds.

Is there a point where a doctor, a pharmacist, whomever, says, "Yeah, we really need the drugs "for these people who really need it"?

How do you deal with that?

- Well, I think that's been dealt, you know, by the pharmacists and the patients one-on-one, but I think most people feel that the patients that need it to treat their diabetes should get priority over treatment of obesity, simply because the obese treatment is not as essential.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Bathing suit season's not a good excuse, right?

- [David] Yes.

- So do you see, especially with Ozempic now being used by celebrities and it's all over social media, do you feel like the drug companies now are gonna seize on this, and look for even more ways to find that magic pill for people, or that magic injection?

- Well, as I said, the latest greatest is the Mounjaro from Eli Lilly, and I see the other drug companies moving in that direction.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- Obviously, the drug companies are motivated by profit, and they need profit to continue to develop drugs.

So I don't see any change in that.

But I think the drug companies are primarily looking, at least what I see is what they're looking ahead to try to look at the next generation of medications.

- Sure.

When someone has Type 2 diabetes, is there any going back from that?

I mean, can you- - Yeah, Type 2 diabetes- - Cured of that, or are you stuck- - Is definitely reversible for many patients.

The biggest way of reversing that is to lose weight, whether that's through drugs, but ideally, through diet and exercise, and if people lose about 10% of their weight, a significant percentage of people will either be able to reduce their medicines, or in some cases, get off their medicines for diabetes.

- Over your 40 years of doing this, have you seen this diabetes issue, what kind of an effect has that had overall on the healthcare system you think?

- Well, it has a big effect, 'cause in the hospital, like 1/3 to 1/2 the people admitted to the hospital have problems with their blood sugar.

So it's a huge effect, 'cause it affect, it's not only the people that get admitted for direct complications of diabetes.

It's also many, many of the other patients that need diabetic care along with their other problems.

- Sure.

It's great information, doctor.

Anything else you wanna say about the issue that we haven't discussed yet that people might wanna know?

- Not right now.

I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you.

- Well, I do too, and make sure you do your homework out there, and consult your doctor if you're interested in taking any of these medications.

As with any medication, they've got their pros and cons.

All right, Dr. David Trachtenbarg with Carle Health.

Thanks very much.

Appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Our Phil Luciano spoke to a local pharmacist who says the diabetes/weight loss drugs are popular here in Central Illinois.

- [Phil] Over the past couple of years, customers have hounded pharmacist Mike Minesinger with one particular question, "Can you tell me about Ozempic?"

Minesinger, owner of Alwan Pharmacy in West Peoria, says Central Illinois echoes the national fascination with Ozempic and other diabetes drugs that promote weight loss.

- Absolutely, there's been a huge amount of interest on that, especially with so many like celebrities and Hollywood people using it.

It's generated a lot of buzz.

- [Phil] To lose weight, people are willing to buy and inject a prescription drug to give them an edge.

- The main question we get is like, you know, "What are the side effects?"

You know, the downside, 'cause everybody wants to lose weight, I guess, pretty much.

Most of us do, and really that's just, there's some nausea, and usually that's at the higher doses.

- [Phil] Generally, he says, the risk of side effects is low, except perhaps to your wallet.

- It runs about $1,000 a month, basically.

You know, some insurances help cover it.

- [Phil] But insurance approval isn't automatic.

For example, the FDA has approved Ozempic for diabetes, but not weight loss.

Related drugs can require special approval for weight loss as well.

- Almost all of 'em, it requires a special authorization from your insurance.

So you don't just walk in with a prescription, and walk away with it that day.

It usually, the doctor has to provide some documentation, but I've even seen some people going like to online doctors and getting diagnosed with diabetes to get the medicine.

So you know, there's ways around it always.

- [Phil] And the flurry of prescriptions often diminishes the supply of Ozempic.

- It's been crazy.

It's been really tough keeping it in stock.

- [Phil] Shortages leave diabetics frantically scrambling to find their needed drug.

- People kind of end up bouncing from pharmacy to pharmacy to try and find someone who has it in stock, which, of course, is not good for their care, because then you have a pharmacy that doesn't know all your history and your other conditions and medications, you know, filling your prescription, and that's less than ideal.

- Welcome back, Phil Luciano joins us now.

This is interesting, Phil.

I mean this Ozempic drug, I don't think since Viagra has the world been talking about a drug like this.

- Well, the part where you guys touched on, where you said, "Is this a wonder drug?"

And I think that's a key element if people really calculate the cost-effectiveness of this whole thing.

Here's what I mean.

So he was talking about that you can lose about 16 pounds, which if you're watching the show, and you're like, I don't know what the average height and weight is, like you're 5'10, 160 pounds as a guy, and I don't know, 5'2, 110, 120 as a gal, you're like, "Wow, 16 pounds, it'd be a lot."

- Yeah.

- But if you are a person who is diabetic, and you're overweight, chances are 16 pounds is not a massive amount.

I mean, it's not like the amount you need to lose to get down to a regular weight, right?

So if you're doing it just for weight loss just to look better, 16 pounds is, it's nothing really.

I mean, it really isn't.

I mean, I'm not gonna say, I don't wanna say that.

I mean, who, and who am I to lecture about- - Well, look, between you and I, if either one of us lost 16 pounds, I don't even know if it'd be noticeable.

- Well, that's the point.

- Right.

- I mean, that's the point.

I mean, it's good to lose weight.

Of course, it is always good to lose weight.

- Yeah.

- But for 16 pounds, you're gonna spend 1,000 bucks a month for six months?

I mean, that's almost 400 bucks a pound, and I don't know if that's in anyone's budget to do that, so- - Yeah.

- Every time you hear that, the old, "Oh, ho, ho, it's magic" song coming on, you're like, "Man, there's the answer," and you're eating a double cheeseburger from Hardee's.

"I gotta get me some of that."

I mean, I don't know if it's gonna really work all that wonder.

- Yeah, speaking of the double cheeseburger, sometimes the answer is right in front of your face.

Take that double cheeseburger, and toss it in the trash.

I, you know, I wonder though with people who are desperate, you know, if they have self-esteem problems, or maybe they have a job where they have to be skinny, some people are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to do this, and like he said, and like we've read, once, if you're out of money and you can't afford these shots anymore, that weight is most likely gonna come back, if not even more than you already lost.

- And plus, there's a ceiling apparently on the amount you can lose.

I mean, it's not like you can take it for another five years and lose more weight.

He says, "Well, that's about where it tops off."

- Yeah.

- I mean, you're not gonna keep taking it and taking it and taking it.

So it seems to be an exercise in futility at the end.

In other words, you're gonna lose your 16 pounds, and then you know what you gotta do?

You've gotta eat properly and exercise appropriately, which is pretty much what we're supposed to do anyway- - What you're supposed to do in the first place, yeah.

- So- - All right, well, again, consult your doctors if you're interested in this, or any other medicine.

Let's talk about "You Gotta See This" coming up in just a minute.

- Got a new show.

We got a couple of great segments, I think.

One of them is on a fella, who, he's the greatest guitarist you've never heard of, okay?

His name's Wes Montgomery.

He's a jazz guitarist, and you might think, "Well, that sounds like, "you know, who cares?"

This guy influenced so many modern rock guitarists, talking Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana.

He's huge.

He's not from Central Illinois, but until recently there was never a video documentary done on this guy.

The guy who did that documentary, he is from Peoria, Eureka, and that's going to be, that documentary is going to be aired on WTVP, so- - Cool.

- Yeah, you'll wanna check this out.

So you get a little taste of what this guy was all about.

Speaking of music, you've got a story.

- I've got a very cool story.

I enjoyed it quite a bit.

It's about a gentleman who owned a brick and mortar record, tape, CD/whatever store here in Central Illinois.

Due to tragic circumstances, it shut down, but he's reopened it in the most unique location you can imagine.

It's way off the beaten path- - Middle of nowhere.

- Middle of nowhere, just east of the middle of nowhere, I think.

And yeah, he's got, you should go to the shop, because he is, this gentleman is a big KISS fan, has a lot of memorabilia, and just about every type of music you can imagine.

- It's on my radar, and I was watching your story, and the thing that was interesting is one of the customers is in there, and he's like, "I wanna find these things, "and they're so, nowhere are they found."

You find them there.

- Yeah.

- It's like if you can't find something, you can find it there.

I just wish he had 8-tracks.

- I'm sure he does.

I'm sure he does.

I may look into that.

- Yeah.

- Add to the old stockpile in the garage.

- Oh, yeah, gotta get ready for the next "8-Track Time Machine."

- That's right.

All right, we appreciate you watching tonight.

"You Gotta See This" is up next in just a minute, and you can always get ahold of Phil and I and Julie on wtvp.org.

Check out our Facebook page and our Instagram page, and again, we will see you back here next Thursday night.

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