Miracle weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy reportedly linked to hair loss

Praised as the new option for extreme weight loss, users are claiming an unfortunate side-effect to the Hollywood miracle drug. Photo / Getty Images

Diabetes medication-turned-Hollywood weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have encountered some knots in their redistribution as miracle diet injectables.

According to the New York Post people taking the medication have reported hair loss as a side effect in social media groups.

Originally known as Semaglutide and prescribed for patients with Type 2 diabetes, it has become known by brand names Ozempic and Wegovy. However, sparked by alleged used among Hollywood’s elite, the drugs have become increasingly prescribed for weight loss, reports the New York Post.

Ozempic was originally approved by the FDA to treat people with Type 2 diabetes. Photo / Getty Images

According to NBC, those using the drugs for weight loss can expect to drop up to 20 per cent of their body weight in six to 12 months. After this period a plateau is common.

It’s also been claimed the drugs are becoming a preferred alternative to gastric band surgery which can involve myriad risks and complications and require ongoing maintenance and dietary adjustments.

But as reports of hair loss as a side effect to Ozempic and Wegovy emerge, a weight loss doctor has told NBC it’s not the drugs causing hair loss, it’s the weight loss itself.

Doctors have explained what's behind the assumed link between weight loss drugs and hair loss. Photo / 123RF

“Hair loss is unlikely related to the drugs,” said Dr Vijaya Surampudi, assistant director of the UCLA weight management programme in Los Angeles.

Having counselled patients who have experienced hair loss while on the medications, she said it is “ ... more likely related to weight loss that is a result of these drugs”.

She said when someone experiences major weight loss, hair loss is also common as a result of the stress the body finds itself under.

The weight loss drugs work by suppressing appetite, essentially “shocking the system”, says Surampudi.

NBC also reported that while Ozempic doesn’t list hair loss as a side effect, a reported 3 per cent of patients claimed to have experienced hair loss during Wegovy’s clinical trials.

A third drug, Tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Mounjaro for diabetics, has also become an option for weight loss but has shown 6 per cent of patients taking a higher dose reported alopecia. However, 1 per cent of patients given a placebo also reported hair loss.

Echoing Surampudi’s explanation, Tirzepatide drugmaker Eli Lilly told NBC “hair loss is a side effect that has been associated with significant weight loss in many previous clinical trials for obesity treatment”.

They also noted the hair loss experienced in the trials was generally temporary.