[Cheongdam OK Clinic] Wegovy Effects: Is a Fail-Proof Diet Possible?

Dieting is a lifelong task

Many people

make up their minds to diet several times a day,

but are just as easily shaken.

As if tempting us,

the internet and social media

are overflowing with countless diet-related information.

"I lost 10 kg in a week!"

"You have to fast for 16 hours"

"If you take this product, the weight will just keep dropping"

Various diet advertisements.

Were these methods

really easy to follow?

Have those who tried them

been satisfied with the results?

Examples of diet advertisements

We are now living in an era of “diet experts”

We are currently living in a

“flood of diet information.”

Countless pieces of information are being poured out—

celebrity testimonials,

extreme weight-loss content,

marketing for specific products, and more.

But in reality,

it is difficult to find a systematic and scientific method.

Amid all this,

there is a drug that opened a new paradigm

in the obesity treatment market.

Many people know it as

Wegovy.

What is Wegovy?

Wegovy is

a weight-loss drug developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.

Its active ingredient is semaglutide,

which was originally used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes (Ozempic).

In the process of administering it to diabetes patients,

a side effect of weight loss was observed,

and this point

came to be recognized as an advantage rather than a drawback.

Later,

the same ingredient was developed into a higher-dose version for obesity treatment,

received FDA approval in the U.S. in 2021, and was introduced in Korea as well.

So then,

"How does Wegovy reduce body weight?"

That naturally raises the question.

It is related to a hormone in our body called

GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide-1).

GLP-1 is

a substance secreted after meals

that helps suppress appetite and keep you feeling full longer,

and Wegovy is a

"GLP-1 analog"

that mimics the action of this hormone.

The relationship between semaglutide and GLP-1

Semaglutide stimulates GLP-1 receptors and affects the entire body, including the brain, stomach, liver, heart, and pancreas. Its various physiological effects—such as appetite suppression, increased insulin secretion, blood sugar control, and delayed gastric emptying—lead to weight loss.

In simple terms,

it makes you feel full sooner

and less hungry.

It also

slows the rate at which the stomach empties and

stimulates the brain's satiety center,

so rather than simply "eating less,"

it reduces appetite itself.

Compared with Saxenda (liraglutide) from the same class, which required one injection per day,

Wegovy only needs to be injected once a week, making it much more convenient.

So,

Wegovy can be seen not as a simple diet supplement,

but as a specialized obesity treatment based on hormonal action.

Later,

follow-up drugs such as Mounjaro and Zepbound

appeared, broadening the options,

but

Wegovy is still

evaluated as the drug that first clinically proved its weight-loss effect.

In Korea,

it was officially launched on April 27, 2023,

and its use has been steadily expanding, centered around obesity clinics and medical institutions.

What are the prescription criteria for Wegovy?

Wegovy is

a weight-loss treatment approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety,

and it can be formally prescribed when the BMI is 30 or higher,

or

when the BMI is 27 or higher and there are metabolic conditions such as

hypertension, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia.

You can calculate BMI yourself using the formula below,

and if you search on Naver,

you can easily calculate it.

BMI = weight (kg) ÷ height (m)^2

For example,

if your height is 160 cm and your weight is 60 kg,

BMI = 60 ÷ (1.6 x 1.6) = 23.4

Overweight

BMI calculation (Source: Naver)

If the BMI is below 27,

can Wegovy not be used?

This is something many people wonder about.

Not necessarily.

Depending on the doctor's judgment,

"off-label use" is possible.

This is not illegal,

and for example,

if the following conditions apply, a doctor may prescribe it at their discretion:

The patient continuously needs weight loss,

or has a history of repeated diet failures and risk factors for metabolic health

When lifestyle improvement is difficult and pharmacological intervention is judged to be necessary

What effects have been proven in actual clinical trials?

The effects of Wegovy were

confirmed in large-scale clinical trials from STEP 1 to 4,

and these results were published in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine),

a world-renowned medical journal.

Figure 1. Weight change and rate of weight loss

Graphs A and B show the weight changes in the Wegovy (semaglutide) group and the placebo group over 68 weeks,

and graphs C and D show the proportion of participants whose weight decreased by 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% or more at 68 weeks.

According to the STEP 1 study,

patients who used Wegovy for 1 year and 4 months had an average weight loss of 14.9%

More than half of the patients lost 15% or more of their body weight

13% lost 20% or more

and some lost more than 30%.

What is noteworthy is that

this weight loss did not simply result in outward changes.

As weight decreased,

major metabolic indicators such as blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol

were also shown to improve.

In other words,

Wegovy is evaluated not as a simple "weight-loss drug,"

but as a specialized treatment that addresses obesity and the metabolic abnormalities caused by it.

Medical judgment is important when prescribing

Wegovy is

a powerful treatment that can affect various metabolic indicators such as

blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure,

beyond simple weight loss.

Because it acts throughout the body,

it is necessary to make a professional judgment that comprehensively considers a person's overall health status,

rather than deciding whether to prescribe it based only on the BMI value.

Therefore,

self-administration is not recommended,

and it is best to use it through accurate diagnosis and continuous follow-up care

from a medical professional.

So,

do you wonder whether Wegovy really works in actual use?

In the next installment,

we will introduce real Wegovy user reviews

and cases of improvement in metabolic conditions

in detail.

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