WeightWatchers Aims to Start Marketing Diet Drugs

WeightWatchers Aims to Start Marketing¹ Diet Drugs

The company WeightWatchers recently announced it would buy a health company whose providers prescribe drugs for weight loss.

However, some experts worry about the use of drugs for weight loss. They argue the treatment does not include enough monitoring for side effects among patients.

WeightWatchers is a company that sells products and services to help people use exercise and diet to lose weight. But recently, the company said it would purchase Sequence, a telehealth company.

The deal is valued at $132 million dollars. It is the latest business deal in the market for prescription² weight loss drugs. For example, famous people have supported the use of the diabetes³ drug Ozempic as a weight loss drug. But the drug has not been approved for that use by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. High demand for the drug has resulted in shortages.

WeightWatchers has 3.5 million members who pay for its services. With Sequence, WeightWatchers can provide members with more than just food and exercise planning services. It can offer medication.

Experts on extreme overweight, also called obesity⁴, say the drugs will revolutionize treatment for a problem that 42 percent of Americans face.

What are the new diet drugs?

The drugs that are getting a lot of attention are a class of medications called GLP-1 agonists. Two of the most popular drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, are different versions of the same drug, semaglutide.

Ozempic has been in use for about six years to treat type 2 diabetes. It was approved as a treatment for diabetes. But, once a drug is approved, it can be prescribed for other uses. Increasingly, doctors are prescribing Ozempic for weight loss.

Wegovy was approved in 2021 to treat obesity in adults and children older than 11. There are several similar drugs on the market.

Most of these drugs require weekly injections. The manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, said that supply problems have eased.

How do the drugs work?

The drugs activate⁵ the release of the hormone⁶ insulin and block sugar production in the body organ called the liver. The medicine also suppresses the natural desire to eat.

A newer drug called tirzepatide, copies the action of two hormones⁷ and is said to be even more effective. Eli Lilly and Co. sells the drug under the name Mounjaro. It is approved for diabetes treatment and the FDA is considering it for obesity.

How effective are the drugs?

In medical tests, obese⁸ adults who received Wegovy had a mean weight loss of about 15 percent of their body weight. Young people who took the drug lost a similar amount.

Mounjaro is still being tested. The Associated Press reports that different doses resulted in 15 to 21 percent of body weight being lost. That compared to three percent for people who received no drug at all but thought they were receiving one.

Dr. Louis Aronne is director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center in Weill Cornell Medicine based in New York City. He said a usual weight loss program involving exercise and diet will result in one third of the group losing five percent or more of body weight.

Aronne said most people find it difficult to lose weight because of reactions to eating less. Several hormones start to take effect in people who are eating less than they normally do. "There is a real physical phenomenon," he said, that causes the body to resist losing weight.

Drugs usually have side effects, however. The most common are problems with digestion⁹, causing stomach pain and vomiting¹⁰. Other possible side effects include tumors, cancer and swelling¹¹ of organs like the pancreas, kidneys, gall¹² bladder and eye problems. People with a family history of some cancers or genetic¹³ problems with the endocrine system should not take such drugs.

Dr. Amy Rothberg is a hormone specialist at the University of Michigan. She directs an online weight control and diabetes program. She said drugs can be a part of an effort involving several weight loss methods.

But Rothberg said it is important that WeightWatchers aims to monitor patients to make sure the drugs are taken correctly and to watch for side effects.

Words in This Story

prescribe –v. (medicine) to direct someone to take a medicine or treatment that is only available if a doctor requests it

monitoring –v. to watch for a special purpose over a period of time

hormone –n. a natural substance that is produced in the body and that influences growth, development or processes

mean –n. the middle point between two values

dose –n. the amount of a medicine needed to treat a problem or disease

phenomenon –n. something that happens that can be observed and studied

endocrine system –n. the system that sends chemical messages for many processes in the body

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

5 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

6 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

7 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

8 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

9 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

10 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

11 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

12 gall   

v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难

参考例句：

• It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
• No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

13 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。