…use of diabetic injections to treat obesity
By Elizabeth Sitotombe
THERE appears to be in spike in chronic or lifestyle diseases — notably diabetes, hypertension (or high blood pressure) and obesity — in Zimbabwe.
It is estimated that 10 in every 100 people suffer from diabetes, while 50 percent of diabetes sufferers are unaware they have it. It occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
In the 1600s it was known as the ‘pissing disease’ because the major symptom is excessive urination leading to premature death. Frequent urination is a common diabetes symptom. High blood glucose levels result in excess glucose entering the urine, pulling extra water into the urine and increasing thirst.
Diabetes can present clinically as urination, thirst and hunger, blurry vision, nausea, irritation and mood changes, unplanned weight loss, feeling hungry, numbness in hands or feet and feeling tired.
There are different types of diabetes — Type 1 diabetes and Type 2.
Type 1 diabetes is when the body does not produce enough insulin; blood sugar levels remain high unless a person uses medication to manage it.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. It occurs when blood sugar levels rise due to problems emanating from how the body uses or produces insulin.
Hypertension is when your blood pressure is high — above a specific threshold that requires treatment. It is also known as ‘the silent disease’. Again many people are not aware they have this condition as some do not exhibit any symptoms and may only be made aware of the condition through a routine blood pressure test.
Blood pressure is the force with which the blood is pumped around the body.
Common symptoms of high blood pressure include headache, blurred vision, palpitations, chest pain, nose bleeds, shortness of breath, dizziness, vomiting and or nausea.
Obesity, on the other hand, is a condition in which a person has accumulated so much body fat that it negatively affects his/her health. This, in turn, heightens the risk of illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These three conditions frequently co-exist.
For most people who are overweight or obese, the exception are the few with an inherited or autoimmune form of diabetes.
Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
A weight management programme, developed by researchers at the universities of Glasgow and Newcastle for the Diabetes UK-funded Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DIRECT) proved effective at lowering blood pressure and reducing the need for hyper-intensive medications as well as bringing remission to Type 2 diabetes.
Lately, diabetes medications have become very popular, not because of their effectiveness in managing diabetes but for a different reason altogether. The terms ‘Ozempic’ and ‘Victoza’ are becoming household names as they are being used in the weight loss regimes.
Diabetes is a health condition that occurs when the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly and if untreated can cause serious health complications.
Medications like Ozempic were originally developed to treat people with Type 2 diabetes but they also lead to rapid weight loss and a number of doctors have resorted to prescribing them to their obese patients.
After all, if one’s weight is managed, then these conditions can also become manageable.
In Zimbabwe, Victoza is going for between US$80 and US$120 while Ozempic is priced at a whopping US$500-US$1 000, because it is not normally available in the country except under a special import licence.
The medicines work by suppressing the patient’s appetite. Those who have used the medications have reported loss of appetite and have stopped craving for foods they otherwise would not have been able to resist. Therefore, they eat less frequently and in lesser quantities.
But side-effects include muscle loss, nausea and diarrhoea and, unfortunately, one tends to regain weight after ceasing treatment. In fact, one gains more weight than previously lost.
Tendai (30) used Victoza after consultations with her a doctor and claims she lost 10kg in a month. “I had been going back and forth with my weight,” said Tendai.
“I have tried seven-day metabolism diets and moved on to banting and many other weight loss programmes and each time l fell off the wagon and regained all that weight twice over. After using Victoza l simply lost the desire to eat all the time and l started shedding weight. If that will save me from weight-induced heart attacks and diseases then l will gladly spend that much money.”
But this has resulted in an actual shortage of the drug, globally, and many feel it is not fair to those who actually need it.
Some feel these are just short-cuts to weight loss and should not be used. But, according to the Providence Endocrine and Diabetes Speciality Centre, just like diabetes, obesity is also a disease that may eventually become fatal. Appropriate treatment of obesity can lead to reduced weight and improvement in complications like diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease and sleep disorders, among other conditions.