Ozepic use increases among teens – but experts have a warning to parents

FIX is the hot hot adjustment that took Hollywood-and now high school-from storm.

Ozepic and the so-called “weight loss medications are prescribing adolescents in record numbers, with recipes among 12-17-year-olds who dance 50% in 2024, according to Truveta.

Another study by the Evernorth Research Institute, as reported by Reuters, marked a large increase in use of 68% among adolescents in general.

But while few shots like Wegovy can shrink the waist lines, some experts say parents should pump the brakes-before turning their children into PIN.

Dr. Robert Siegel, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital Cincinnati, would not show small words, telling the news agency, – these medicines are likely to be needed for a very long time. “

He added that “we only have a relatively short -term experience with them.â €

In other words, we have barely scratched the surface in what these medications can do for growing bodies – and children can be stuck on them for life.

Rescites in adolescent recipes come after Wegovy was approved for adolescents in late 2022.

Since then, the desperate families to beat the overweight epidemia again which affects 1 in 4 American teens-have become GLP-1 in growing numbers.

“The promise of this is promising that more young people are using these medicines, but there is still a very small percentage of patients with heavy overweight approaching them,” Dr. Cate Varney, director of overweight medicine in the University of Virginia’s health system, told Reuters.

“When lifestyle changes are only insufficient, we need these extra tools.”

However, new tools come with many excellent prints.

“Media may need to be used indefinitely,” Siegel said, mentioning that most pediatricians do not have training-or equipment “to follow long-term effects such as muscle loss or development delays.

Novo Nordisk, Ozepic and Wegovy manufacturer, insists there is no reason to panic.

The company said in a statement that semaglutide – does not seem to affect the growth or development of pubertal in adolescent clinical rehearsals.

“We are sure of the safety and proven efficiency of our GLP-1 medication,” Novo added.

Eli Lilly, whose drug Zepbound is in rehearsals for adolescent use, echoed this attitude, according to Reuters.

“There is no evidence so far that suggests increased damage or metabolism,” the company said.

But this is not enough to calm critics. US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He clashed the trend as a sign of “greater € of our children”, citing the lack of long -term safety data and possible threats to metabolism and development.

With shots for weight loss that look more like a long commitment than a quick adjustment, some doctors say teens need to focus on old school strategies before turning into syringes.

As reported earlier the post, a study by the digital health care platform TEBRA found that 37% of young people in this age group are planning to throw the gym and go to the pharmacy instead of returning to Ozepic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 medicines to hit their weight loss goals.

While General Z is more eager to throw in the injection gang, older people are actually safer in drug effectiveness – with 72% of children’s booms saying they function better than traditional methods.

Still, the craze has a dark side: some users have turned into shady, even dangerous methods, including counterfeit medications and uncontrolled use, causing new fear of dependence and lack of proper supervision.