HEALTH
Ask Dr Mark
Our expert on weight-loss injections, a sore tongue and what to do if you think someone is drinking too much
I am surprised at the number of people
I know who are using the ‘skinny jab’ (Wegovy) to lose weight. I have met three in the last month, all using private clinics. Perhaps it’s a South East thing (I live in Guildford and have friends in London). The injection does seem to be helping them, but I worry about the side effects. Is it safe?
Rest assured, it is not just your part of the UK. And you are sensible to be cautious. An effective slimming drug has long been one of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry. History is littered with failures, either because the drugs haven’t worked that well or they have turned out to have worrying side effects. Indeed, the three most recently launched slimming drugs have all now been withdrawn: Acomplia in 2008 due to psychiatric side effects, Reductil in 2010 due to links with stroke and heart attacks and, in 2018, Belviq, over concerns it increased the risk of cancer.