Omega-3 diabetes drugs are trending as a weight-loss method—here’s why and what doctors are saying

a popular one Diabetes medication It is not always used as it was originally intended.

Recently, the drug Ozempic has become a simple The weight loss fix – and people are ecstatic about the results they’re seeing.

The “breakthrough” invention has gone viral on social media — the Ozempic hashtag has garnered nearly 227 million views on TikTok.

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The trend has particularly taken off among the rich and famous, with celebrities and others using Ozempic and other variations of the drug, such as Wegovi and Trulicity.

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Earlier, on September 22, Bravo’s Andy Cohen tweeted about the increasing use of Ozympic for weight loss.

“Everyone suddenly looks 25 pounds lighter,” he wrote. “What happens when they stop taking #Ozempic????”

While the public has mixed feelings about the drug’s safety, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Mark Siegel told Fox News Digital he’s not concerned — with a few caveats.

“I don’t think it’s a dangerous drug,” he said. “But doctors need to be in the equation.”

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“What I like about it is that it’s similar to how bariatric surgery works without the surgery,” he said.

Siegel emphasized that “no drug is without risk or side effects” — so a doctor’s advice is always recommended, although Ozempic is generally “well tolerated.”

“This drug can cause nausea. It can cause temporary problems including dizziness, headache,” he said.

“This drug has side effects, but any drug has side effects,” he says, “so I’m comfortable prescribing it — but I don’t think anyone should be on any drug.”

In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ozempic as a weekly injection to help lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.

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Although Ozempic is prescribed off-label for obese or overweight people, other users have been able to get their hands on the drug through licensed physicians.

A Wall Street Journal report noted that Santa Monica-based gynecologist Shamsa Amersi admitted to prescribing the drug to celebrity patients who had completed other weight loss procedures.

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“I tell my patients to use it to retrain the way we eat,” Amerci said, according to the journal article.

Dr. Siegel reiterated to Fox News Digital that the drug can be used to restore appetite under the right guidelines, but people who want to lose weight should also focus on traditional, healthy habits such as getting more exercise, eating regularly, good sleep and less alcohol intake.

“All this will help,” he said.

Although Siegel said Ozempic should not be restricted to treating diabetes, he said the drug is being “overused.”

Because of high demand, Ozempic has an official shortage, according to the FDA — which Siegel said is a concern.

While new weight-loss drugs such as tirzepatide are working, Dr. Siegel explains that other diabetes drugs need to be developed to address both diabetes and obesity — which go hand-in-hand.

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“Obesity worsens or induces or even causes diabetes … because with obesity comes insulin resistance and antibodies against insulin,” he said.

“So, where you have trouble is everything moving together. You have too much sugar poured in and you don’t have the ability to get it into the cell.”

Siegel added that there is “no recognition” by the health care system that diabetes and obesity are directly linked — so, often, diabetes drugs are approved before obesity drugs.

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“I think that these drugs are obesity drugs and diabetes drugs,” he said.

“And I think that limitation is you have to have diabetes [in order] It’s wrong to get it.”

“I want to be able to prescribe it,” added Dr. Siegel, meaning weight-loss drugs.