The variety of U.S. adults which can be conscious of GLP-1 drugs used for weight reduction, resembling Ozempic and Wegovy, has jumped considerably in the previous couple of years, a brand new survey reveals.
The YouGov ballot, released Friday, reveals that no less than 80 p.c of respondents have heard no less than “somewhat bit” about semaglutide, a drugs used to deal with Sort 2 diabetes that additionally helps a consumer to shed weight.
In March 2023, solely 60 p.c of Individuals had been conscious of the drug. A 12 months later, in March 2024, that quantity had jumped to 70 p.c, the pollster famous. The broadcast survey additionally reveals that the share of those that have heard “rather a lot” concerning the medicine has almost doubled since 2023, growing to 41 p.c from 23 p.c.
Simply 36 p.c of respondents say they know somebody who has taken semaglutide. Round 14 p.c listed a member of the family took the medication, 16 p.c named a buddy, 11 p.c recognized an acquaintance and seven p.c stated they’d taken it themselves, in response to the ballot. A number of additionally famous they knew a consumer in multiple class.
Ladies are extra possible than males, 43 p.c to 29 p.c, to know somebody — together with themselves — who has taken a GLP-1 agonist drug, per the survey.
The burden loss medicines — together with Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and others — have been accessible since 2005 however have solely prior to now few years been used to deal with weight problems. The medication work by mimicking a hormone within the physique — glucagon-like peptide-1 — that stimulates insulin secretion and reduces urge for food.
Doable side effects of taking the medicine embody nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation.
Whereas semaglutide is presently solely prescribed for weight reduction or treating diabetes, early analysis is pointing to doable advantages for a bunch of different points, together with therapy for habit, neurodegenerative illnesses and situations that have an effect on the guts, kidney or liver.
The broadcast survey discovered that roughly 1 / 4 of respondents stated they might be “very” or “considerably” fascinated about taking the medicine as a weight reduction therapy.
A couple of third of Individuals have both taken the drug or stated they might be fascinated about attempting it. On the opposite aspect, about 17 p.c stated they had been “not very” within the medicine and 45 p.c signaled they had been by no means .
A separate poll from final September discovered that round 1 / 4 of adults within the U.S. would think about using weight loss medications with out consulting their physician.
The YouGov evaluation relies on a web-based survey carried out from Might 22-25 amongst 1,109 adults within the U.S. The margin of error for the total pattern is 4 share factors.