Can weight loss drugs fix the UK’s unemployment problem?

The United Kingdom will study whether the use of weight loss drugs can get people back to work.

UK Health Minister Wes Streeting announced last month that US drugmaker Eli Lilly would begin a five-year trial in Greater Manchester to test whether a weight-loss drug could reduce the problem of UK unemployment.

The announcement came a day after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a conference to promote investment in the UK, which included Eli Lilly.

But what does weight loss drugs have to do with unemployment and how will this work?

What is the weight loss drug trial in the UK?

On 14 October, Starmer held a conference to promote investment in the UK. Attendees included David Ricks, chairman of US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which announced a £279 million ($365.4m) investment in the UK. More details about how this money would be spent have not been revealed.

Eli Lilly is the manufacturer of the weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Around 3,000 residents of Greater Manchester will take part in a study which aims to see the long-term effects of weight loss drugs. Further details of the study have not been released.

According to the 2021 official health survey, around 25.9 per cent of adults in the UK are obese, while another 37.9 per cent are overweight. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25 is considered overweight, and those with a BMI of more than 30 are considered obese.

Obesity-related health issues cost the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) 11 billion pounds ($14bn) every year, UK Health Secretary Streeting said when still preaching the lesson of Eli Lily.

What is the unemployment rate in the UK?

The unemployment rate in the UK was 4 per cent of all over-16s actively looking for work, as of August 2024, according to the UK parliamentary research archive, House of Commons Library.

The unemployment rate fell last year, with 75 percent of 16-64 year olds employed.

What do weight loss drugs have to do with unemployment?

There is also economic activity in the UK, which means that people are out of work and not looking for jobs. According to the UK Labor Market Statistics report published on 15 October, there were 9.26 million unemployed people aged 16 to 64 in the UK. The term “economically unemployed” includes people over the age of 16 who are looking for work, and those who are not looking for work or are unable to work. The latter includes students, retirees and carers.

Between June and August 2024, 30 percent of people said they were economically inactive due to long-term illness and 27 percent said it was because they were students. These numbers are almost the same as last year.

The UK Labor Market Statistics report does not specify whether obesity or diabetes were the specific health issues that contributed to unemployment.

The chief executive of the unemployed people’s union in Manchester, Adam Green, told the BBC that obesity was not the main reason why some people were struggling to find work.

“It’s a complex area and there are a lot of details that have just been taken care of,” Philip Newland-Jones, a diabetes medicine and endocrinology specialist at the University of Southampton in the UK, told Al Jazeera.

“Studies show that unemployed people tend to be obese, and the longer you are unemployed, the more likely you are to become obese. “There is no clear causal link between this and no clear evidence that obesity has caused unemployment, or continues to hinder employment,” Newland-Jones said.

He added that he is not aware of any research that shows that giving people weight loss drugs results in people returning to work. “I think this is the data that the UK government will want to produce with these trials in the hope that the cost of medicine will be covered by increased productivity, or increased GDP,” he said.

How do weight loss drugs work?

Weight loss drugs actually work by suppressing the appetite.

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic are semiglutide vaccines while Mounjaro and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound are tirzepatide vaccines. These are the four main weight loss medications used around the world. Ozempic is widely used in America, Japan, the European Union, Canada and Australia; Mounjaro is ordered in the US, UK, EU and Australia. They are only prescription drugs, but they can also be bought on the gray market online.

Both semiglutides and tirzepatide suppress appetite by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).

Both types of drugs are self-administered once a week from a pre-filled pen. They can be injected into the upper arm, thigh or abdomen.

GLP-1 is a gut hormone, which the body naturally produces after eating. GLP-1’s job is to send a message to the brain that the stomach is full.

Tirzepatides act on a second hormone in addition to GLP-1 called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP). This is naturally released by cells in the intestines and is responsible for controlling blood sugar.

How much weight can you lose using these drugs?

“People who used the highest dose of Mounjaro – 15 milligrams per week – lost 21 percent of their body weight,” said Dr Cecilia Low Wang, a specialist in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. quoted in an article published by the United States. University of Colorado Health Care System, UCHalth.

Dr. Wang also quoted officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying that people on tirzepatides such as Mounjaro lost more weight than those on semiglutides.

The FDA approved Mounjaro and Ozempic for use by patients with diabetes in 2022 and 2017, respectively, but has not yet done so specifically for weight loss. Wegovy and Zepbound were approved for weight loss in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Is weight loss permanent if you take these drugs?

No. Quoted in the UCHealth article, Dr Low Wang explained: “Like Ozempic and Wegovy, if you lose weight with Mounjaro, you will probably need to stay on medication indefinitely to keep your weight off. “

US-based Fortune magazine quoted several doctors in July this year as saying that clinical trials have shown that when people stop taking weight-loss drugs, they regain all the weight they lost. lost in about a year.

Do weight loss drugs have side effects?

Yes, maybe.

For Mounjaro, common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, vomiting, constipation, itchy food and abdominal pain, as listed on the drug’s website. .

The website adds that in people with kidney problems, diarrhea and vomiting can cause dehydration that can worsen kidney problems. It emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated.

There are other safety warnings on the website. The safety warning that appears says “Mounjaro may cause tumors in the throat, including thyroid cancer,” warning users of the medication to be aware of possible symptoms.

In addition, serious side effects can include inflammation of the pancreas – or pancreatitis – low blood sugar, severe rejection, serious gastrointestinal problems, changes in vision and gallbladder problems.