CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new study finds that the active ingredient in drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is effective for long-term weight loss and diabetes.
The drug also helps maintain that weight loss over a three-year period.
Coastal Bend resident Brenda Whitfield has been struggling with weight loss and type 2 diabetes for 23 years. Now she takes a drug called Mounjaro, which also contains the active ingredient found in Ozempic and Wegovy, called Semaglutide.
"I have found I lost -- yesterday was my celebration day, I guess you'd say -- of 50 pounds. So that's what I found with it. I also found that it curbs my appetite. Where used to, I could eat three tacos, now I eat one," she said.
Corpus Christi endocrinologist Dr. Brandi Addison said if residents are not diabetic, cost will be a factor in obtaining the drug for weight loss.
"With Wegovy, the price, cash price without any insurance coverage is probably going to be about a thousand bucks," she said.
This poses a problem for those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Doctors said that if residents can lose the weight and keep it off then it will save them trips to the ER down the road. However, Addison said the biggest problem is understanding, especially by insurance companies.
"If the stigma and the way we think about this is this process can change, then they'll realize this is a chronic disease, just like how we treat hypertension, hypothyroidism, all these other disease states. I believe more companies would opt into it," she said.
News of the new study reinforces the positive impact on patients' A1C, which measures sugar in the blood. Whitfield went from a 13 down to a 6. Addison said the prognosis is not getting better for many in the area.
"I know that in the year 2030, we're expecting about 50 percent of the population to have obesity. And a lot of that mirrors what we see with diabetes. There's a huge population here. I would say about 80 percent of the Coastal Bend. And when you see type 2 diabetes, most likely you're seeing obesity as well," she said.
Addison said that residents will need to call their doctor to determine whether they qualify for any of the medications.
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