New Obesity Drugs Will Prevent Bariatric Surgeries: ‘In 10 Years, Hypertension, Cholesterol, and Sleep Apnea Will Also Decrease’

new generation of drugs based semaglutide molecules (Ozempic and Vegovy) and tirzepatide (Munjaro) they represent new way of treatment obesity. All three are now available in Spain, though Only Ozempic is funded by the Ministry of Health. In addition, Ozempic and Mujaro are indicated for people who have both diseases. obesity How type 2 diabetes. People are shown only Wegovy. only in case of obesity. These three drugs, whose market prices range from 180 to 300 euros per month, have proven to be highly effective in treating this disease: it is no coincidence The last Princess of Asturias Prize for Scientific and Technical Research 2024 fell precisely on the “scientific fathers” of this series of medicines.

Obesity is one of the most common diseases in the West: Between 25% and 30% of adults in Spain suffer from this disease, as well as 10.7% of children and adolescents. This serious public health problem it is growing. It also implies important health care expenses because of them accompanying illnesses (i.e. other associated pathologies): it is estimated that between 7% of the state budget from the total European Union (EUROPEAN UNION) are allocated annually to non-communicable diseases associated with obesity.

Drugs such as Ozempic, Vegovi and Munyaro are designed change this panorama. How is the endocrine system calculated? Andrea Chudin, Coordinator of the Comprehensive Obesity Treatment Unit at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, ​​percentage of people with obesity in Spain will reach 40% in the next decade if this trend is not stopped. Sudin asks Don’t take this reality lightly. “(El Ozempic, Vegovi and Munyaro) These are not weight loss drugs. “but to treat a biological disease,” he says. environmental factors affect obesity, but obese people usually have genetic load and biological disease which regulates hunger and metabolism. Obesity is a visible disease because you see people eating a lot. The truth is that They lack a hormone at the brain level.” explains this endocrinologist, who also believes that this is a new family of drugs will allow you to avoid many bariatric surgeries.

Bariatric surgeries are indicated for people with body mass index (BMI) 35 or more and this is also present “comorbidities” such as diabetes, hypertension, or sleep apnea, among other things. “In cases like this, if we can reduce body weight by 15% with medication, We could have avoided the operation. Moreover, there are people who, with the help of these drugs, They lose even more weight. Of course bariatric surgery they will not disappear, but now We have a much wider range of procedures. adapt to types of obesity and each person’s reactions,” explains Sudin, who believes that drugs and surgery will be “auxiliary measures” and do not replace each other. In fact, she is convinced that “health impact” of these drugs will be seen “in five or 10 years.” “Hypertension, cholesterol, C-PAP (sleep apnea) use will go down…,” he predicts.

Financial “barrier”

In Spain, where it has been distributed since 2019, Ozempic This is the only one of these drugs that is financed by the Ministry of Health. It is prescribed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, like Mujaro (which has been on sale in this country since July 1). It Jehovah’s, indicated only for the treatment of obesity (it is the most effective of all: it provides weight loss of up to 17%), it has been sold in Spain since May last year. “We had practically no tools, except diet, exercise and surgery, have three really effective drugs for the treatment of obesity. With the limitation that two of them are not funded, which is an important barrier”, think about it from your side Antonio Perez, director of the endocrinology and nutrition department at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau hospital, who agrees that these drugs “They are changing the picture of obesity.”

This endocrinologist believes that “must be financed” so that more people can access them, although it is assumed that The profile of obese people should be carefully selected. because “the system won’t be able to finance drugs for 25% of the population.” The maximum dose of Wegovy, for example, costs about 300 euros per month, the same as the average dose of Muñaro (the latter’s highest dose, 15 milligrams, is not sold in Spain). Given that diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or certain types of cancer (obesity related) “very expensive diseases” For the health system, he believes that “any investment in obesity is worthwhile.”

Obesity, Perez notes, is “disease chronicle” it will require, like diabetes, “chronic treatment”. For this reason, these drugs, in principle, should be taken for life, Although other experts, such as Dr. Sudin, acknowledge that the length of the prescription is something that matters. “it is not known yet” (because these drugs just landed). Perhaps, he believes, it all depends on the “type of obesity.” However, both insist that This disease is a “universal problem”. “Every decade there are more obese people and all forecasts indicate that They will continue to increase. The number of obese children is growing, increasing chances of becoming an obese adult,” concludes Dr. Perez. Drugs such as Jehovah’s, For example, they are also indicated for teenagers.