Get poorer to lose weight | The Press

Thirty-three kilos.

This is the weight loss experienced by Valérie Lemesle since the summer of 2022.

However impressive it may be, this figure does not succeed in reflecting the radical improvement in the daily life of the mother of the Montérégie.

The transformation experienced by M^me Lemesle is partly due to Ozempic, the new drug developed in Denmark which tackles excess weight by slowing digestion and giving a strong feeling of fullness.

“I tried diets before, but they didn’t work. This medication for me has been a revelation and reassures me for my long-term health,” she says.

Alternately described in the media as a product “too good to be true”, then “in short supply because it is so popular”, Ozempic is changing the face of obesity.

The D^r Sylvain Iceta, psychiatrist and assistant professor under grant in the department of psychiatry and neuroscience at the faculty of medicine at Laval University, believes that the phenomenal popularity of the drug and the proliferation of articles about it may give the false impression that the Obesity is now an easily treatable disease.

It must be said that the ways of treating obesity until now have not given encouraging results.

The D^r Iceta notes that diets generally don’t work long term for weight loss and that physical activity is difficult for obese people. Bariatric surgeries do not always give the expected results. In such a context, it is favorable to the use of Ozempic if taking the drug is accompanied by follow-up with nutritionists and other specialists.

“Contrary to what many people think, we don’t become thin because we decide to. And we must not forget that as soon as we stop Ozempic, we gain weight. Hence the importance of using the drug in a more global context. »

“I foundto healthe ”

Paul started using Ozempic in August 2022. Having undergone heart surgery in 2011, the now 62-year-old suffered from hypertension, high cholesterol, sleep apnea and shortness of breath.

In one year, Ozempic helped him drop his weight from 91 kg to 73 kg.

“Today, my cholesterol levels are normal, my blood pressure is normal, my sleep apnea has disappeared, I no longer have shortness of breath. In short, I got my health back. I walk 10 km every day! “, he said.

This kind of result makes people say that this medicine is magic. But Paul is nuanced.

Christian, 68, is of the same opinion. Having been using Ozempic for just six weeks, he is hopeful of tackling his problem of morbid obesity, a term applied to obese people with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 kg/m².

“Already, my appetite has diminished a lot,” says Christian. It makes you less attracted to heavy and fatty things, and more to lighter meals like salads. Now I eat one and a half meals a day. »

Although Ozempic and other similar drugs like Wegovy or Mounjaro have the potential to change the lives of obese people, obtaining the drug is not within everyone’s reach.

In Quebec, the government only reimburses these medications for people with diabetes. Weight loss medications are part of the list of products excluded from Quebec’s public drug insurance plan.

The D^D Marie-Philippe Morin, specialist in bariatric medicine at the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec (IUCPQ), notes that this is a historical reason which explains the exclusion of these drugs.

“It’s because of an old regulation dating from 1997 which excludes drugs to treat obesity, which were dangerous at that time. Today, we are elsewhere, there has been a lot of progress in this area, so the time has come to lift the exclusion regulation. The role of the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) is to evaluate the effectiveness of medications, but it does not currently do so in the case of obesity. »

At INESSS, the communications department indicates that a pilot project could see the light of day. “Discussions are taking place with the Ministry of Health for a contribution from INESSS to a project in a clinical care environment which aims to care for patients with obesity problems. The details of this project will be communicated in due course by the MSSS,” we are told.

For Christian, Ozempic and similar drugs that are arriving or are in the process of arriving on the market offer a glimmer of hope… costly. His treatment costs him nearly $300 per month, a significant sum in his budget, as he has a small income. Waiting for bariatric surgery for a year, Christian does not understand that the RAMQ does not reimburse Ozempic to people who are morbidly obese.

“Morbid obesity is a fatal disease! I’ve been trying hard, walking and cycling regularly for years, but it’s not working. I already had a quadruple heart bypass, which cost the government at least $25,000.

Beyond the physical, it is also the question of the mental health of obese people that is at stake, he says.

“Fatphobia, or the fear of obese people, is a real phenomenon. Often, obese people isolate themselves and experience difficulties socializing. So when we finally have a tool that allows us to tackle all of these problems head-on, we should use it. »