Obesity, declared a chronic disease by the WHO, affects 17% of adults in Spain, with an additional 40% being overweight, according to Ministry of Health data. This growing trend, considered a 21st-century epidemic, requires effective treatments.
The advent of GLP-1 drugs has brought new hope, but their widespread use without adequate control, especially the new pills launched in January, is raising alarms. In the United States alone, over two million prescriptions have been issued for these oral medications.
“"The problem is that people do not understand how these drugs work. We cannot allow chronic treatments like these, which are systemic and have warnings about their side effects, to become the most common solution due to fashion or social pressure."
Dr. Gontrand López-Nava, director of the Bariatric Endoscopy Unit at HM Sanchinarro, points out two main concerns: "These are hormones that act on multiple levels of the body, including the brain, and a message of a pill-based solution for obesity is being promoted without warning about the rebound effect when medication is stopped or about potential side effects."
The oral medication achieved over 18,000 prescriptions in its first week on the market in the United States, reaching about 200,000 weekly by April. Dr. López-Nava emphasizes the need for clearer regulation and precise public messaging.
While the drugs "do yield results" and can be positive in an initial phase, normalizing them as a long-term weight-loss method is a mistake. The expert stresses that "action must be taken in the stomach to combat obesity," and that brain intervention should be temporary.
Endoscopy, for instance, allows for a 15% to 20% weight loss. These patients also require personalized treatment with a multidisciplinary team, including psychology and nutrition. "Obesity needs medicine, monitoring, and clinical judgment. It does not need virality," concludes the doctor.
