Featured Image Credit: Tatsiana Volkava / Getty
There's another potential side effect of GLP-1s to look out for, with a reported rise in people experiencing 'Ozempic Butt'.
Since their arrival on the scene, these so-called skinny jabs have continued to boom in popularity.
President Donald Trump has been influential in bringing down the price of Ozempic and other GLP-1s, while the industry has evolved to include stronger versions from various companies, as well as pill versions to take them on the go.
The Ozempic craze shows no sign of slowing down, and although some have billed these drugs as a potential 'one cure for all', there are continued warnings about a raft of side effects.
Advert
These range from the gross, like Ozempic Breath, to the wild, like Ozempic Penis. There are other more serious concerns, like reports that injections have been linked to death.
A new one on the scene is the idea of 'Ozempic Butt', which is used to describe the appearance of a sagging or flattened backside due to loss of fat. Cleveland Clinic has its own advice on how to avoid Ozempic Butt, noting that it's often caused by rapid weight loss over a short period of time. Factors like your age, how long you've been living with obesity, and the amount of weight you've lost all come into play.
Here, obesity medicine subspecialist W. Scott Butsch, MD, explained: "The public term ‘Ozempic butt’ may be a result of what we see with weight loss in general.
"When somebody loses weight — whether that’s with diet changes, an increase in physical activity, medication or bariatric surgery — we know there’s a reduction in fat mass, as well as a reduction in muscle mass.
“Your body doesn’t need to carry that previous weight, so there’s a shrinking of the muscle.”
The problem is that a US survey suggests up to a third of weight loss from GLP-1 jabs comes from muscle.
Dr. Butsch has his own advice on how to avoid Ozempic Butt, suggesting we stay hydrated to keep our skin elastic, eat protein to ensure we keep building muscle, and try exercises like resistance bands and weights for toning and strengthening on our glutes. It's said to take up to a year for your body to get used to the new you and your skin to adjust, while there's even a mention of plastic surgery for those who are especially concerned about Ozempic Butt.
That might not be necessary, as the BBC reports a new drug is in development that's specifically aimed at taking on Ozempic Butt.
A new trial with a drug called apitegromab could tackle Ozempic Butt's muscle wasting, with 102 women who tried the drug still managing to maintain muscle. Manufactured by Scholar Rock, apitegromab was created with the aim of treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
The late-stage biopharmaceutical company continues to test apitegromab in clinical trials, although experts say more research needs to be done before it can be recommended.
Even though many think of Ozempic and the rest as 'miracle' drugs, apitegromab has been similarly praised, as it blocks a protein involved in the breakdown of muscle.
During the trial involving people on Mounjaro, those who were also given apitegromab reportedly kept up to 55% more muscle (lean mass). Lean mass was 14.6% of the total weight loss in the apitegromab group, whereas a placebo group faced a 30.2% loss.
While saying the findings should be viewed as "encouraging early evidence, Dr Marie Spreckley, an expert from Cambridge University who wasn't involved in the research, warned it's not yet definitive proof of clinical benefit.
Dr Brendan Gabriel is a nutrition and health expert at the University of Aberdeen, suggesting that apitegromab might not be suitable for all. Instead, it could be a quick fix for those who are losing muscle mass at an accelerated rate.
Novo Nordisk is known as the creator of Ozempic, saying it had no comment on 'Ozempic Butt' when approached by UNILADTech.
