Ozempic discovered a new “side effect” - pregnancy
The diabetes drug Ozempic, which many people use to lose weight, has another “side effect” - pregnancy. This was reported by People.
It all started with the fact that stories of women who, after starting to take Ozempic, became pregnant began to appear en masse on social networks - much to their surprise. Some of them did not plan the pregnancy and took birth control, others considered themselves infertile, so the pregnancy took them by surprise. Thus, one of the women who became pregnant said that she could not conceive a child for several years, but became pregnant two months after she started taking Ozempic - and, according to her, gave birth to a healthy child.
It turned out that there is nothing surprising in this situation, because weight loss, which is what Ozempic is primarily aimed at, in itself has a positive effect on fertility and overall hormonal levels. “Even if we are talking about just a few kilograms, this can already lead to the fact that a woman will resume ovulation and be able to get pregnant,” says obstetrician-gynecologist Iman Saleh. “Our fat cells produce estrogen, and estrogen can have a negative effect on our ovaries and ovulation. It can also negatively affect the endometrial lining."
In addition to the fact that Ozempic increases fertility, due to its formulation, it also reduces the effect of contraceptive drugs, so you should carefully monitor pregnancy while taking this drug. However, doctors prohibit taking Ozempic just to get pregnant - this is fraught with risks for both mother and child. "Studies on rats, rabbits and monkeys show that weight-loss drugs can cause miscarriage and birth defects if taken during pregnancy. There have been no studies in humans yet. Women should stop taking weight-loss drugs at least two weeks before months before a planned pregnancy,” recommends drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk.
You should also not take the drug during pregnancy - doctors say that the child may develop underweight and other abnormalities. Yes, there are stories about completely healthy children whose mothers took Ozempic during pregnancy, but the risks are too great to experiment on yourself, doctors say.
In the future, perhaps the situation will change: the manufacturer of Ozempic has begun its own research to find out how the drug affects pregnant women and what its new “side” effect gives medicine. At the same time, research continues into other side effects of the drug, because of which patients are now suing the manufacturing company.
