Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight. But what do we actually know about them? This month, we’re exploring their rise, impact and potential consequences.
To kick off our series, Sebastian Furness charts how these drugs were developed including, at one stage, mimicking hormones from a venomous lizard.
As Furness explains, these drugs work by telling your brain you’re full. (And we’ve created a handy infographic that shows what happens in your body when you take them.)
Meanwhile, Lauren Ball and Emily Burch outline what the evidence says are the potential benefits and risks of taking drugs like Ozempic for weight loss, from gastrointestinal discomfort to reports of more serious mental health concerns.
Later in the week, we’ll look at how Australians are accessing Ozempic for weight loss when it’s only approved as a diabetes treatment and how the regulator is cracking down on ‘copycat’ Ozempic.
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Fron Jackson-Webb
Deputy Editor and Senior Health Editor
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Sebastian Furness, The University of Queensland
Ozempic generated A$21 billion of sales in 2023 alone. So how was it developed? And how are its new competitors, Mounjaro and Zepbound, different?
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Lauren Ball, The University of Queensland; Emily Burch, Southern Cross University
Early on we heard a lot about the potential benefits of drugs like Ozempic. Now we’re hearing more about the risks. But what does the latest evidence say?
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Allan Fels, The University of Melbourne
US courts have had the power to break up badly behaving corporations for more than a century. There’s a bill before the Australian Senate that would give our courts the same power.
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Ian Gordon, The University of Melbourne; Mary P. Coupland, University of Technology Sydney; Merrilyn Goos, University of the Sunshine Coast
Imagine if you enrolled your child in swimming lessons but instead of a qualified swimming instructor, they were taught freestyle technique by a soccer coach.
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Nasya Bahfen, La Trobe University
Muslims internationally fast during the day in the holy month. But largely-Islamic nations are feeling the effects of climate change, making life harder both during and outside of Ramadan.
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Ned Curthoys, The University of Western Australia
Nathan Thrall’s harrowing account of an avoidable tragedy doubles as a devastating analysis of the everyday realities of occupation, in the context of Palestinian and Israeli history.
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Erin Roger, CSIRO; Alyssa Martino, University of Sydney; Rebecca Paxton, University of Adelaide
Bushwalkers with smartphones could help scientists track a fungus lethal to many of Australia’s most loved trees.
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Jacqueline Nguyen, Flinders University; Simon Ho, University of Sydney
The extinction of the dinosaurs sparked an explosion of bird species, according to the largest-ever study of bird genetics.
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Dennis Altman, La Trobe University; Jessica Ford, University of Adelaide; Kelly McWilliam, University of Southern Queensland; Phoebe Hart, Queensland University of Technology; Stephen Gaunson, RMIT University; Stuart Richards, University of South Australia
Our experts have a roundup featuring everything from a saucy period drama, to the latest season of Blown Away, to a Stan production that brought Superstore’s Ben Feldman down under.
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