Medical experts are warning that Wegovy and similar fat-loss shots may cause a potentially deadly side effect overlooked in trials.
The blockbuster drugs work by mimicking the effects of GLP-1, a hormone that slows the movement of food through the intestines – making a person feel full for longer.
But researchers in China believe the drugs may cause a person’s small intestine to become enlarged, which puts them at high risk of a potentially deadly obstruction in their digestive system.
In experiments performed on mice, the enlargement of the intestine occurred at around 20 months of taking GLP-1 drugs. The team points out that clinical trials for Wegovy, which has a sticker price of over $1,000 per month, only went up to 16 months, meaning this significant long-term side-effect may have been missed.
Wegovy, developed by the Danish Novo Nordisk, is a weekly injectable drug that leads to heavy weight loss long term (file photo)
Chinese researchers warn that people who take GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy will experience an enlarged intestine, which is less flexible and more prone to blockages
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