The number of U.S. adults that are aware of GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, has jumped significantly in the last few years, a new survey shows.
The YouGov poll, released Friday, shows that at least 80 percent of respondents have heard at least “a little bit” about semaglutide, a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes that also helps a user to shed weight.
In March 2023, only 60 percent of Americans were aware of the drug. A year later, in March 2024, that number had jumped to 70 percent, the pollster noted. The latest survey also shows that the share of those who have heard “a lot” about the medication has nearly doubled since 2023, increasing to 41 percent from 23 percent.
Just 36 percent of respondents say they know someone who has taken semaglutide. Around 14 percent listed a family member took the medicine, 16 percent named a friend, 11 percent identified an acquaintance and 7 percent said they had taken it themselves, according to the poll. Several also noted they knew a user in more than one category.
Women are more likely than men, 43 percent to 29 percent, to know someone — including themselves — who has taken a GLP-1 agonist drug, per the survey.
The weight loss medications — including Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and others — have been available since 2005 but have only in the past few years been used to treat obesity. The drugs work by mimicking a hormone in the body — glucagon-like peptide-1 — that stimulates insulin secretion and reduces appetite.
Possible side effects of taking the medication include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation.
While semaglutide is currently only prescribed for weight loss or treating diabetes, early research is pointing to possible benefits for a host of other issues, including treatment for addiction, neurodegenerative diseases and conditions that affect the heart, kidney or liver.
The latest survey found that roughly a quarter of respondents said they would be “very” or “somewhat” interested in taking the medication as a weight loss treatment.
About a third of Americans have either taken the drug or said they would be interested in trying it. On the other side, about 17 percent said they were “not very” interested in the medication and 45 percent signaled they were not at all interested.
A separate poll from last September found that around a quarter of adults in the U.S. would consider using weight loss medications without consulting their doctor.
The YouGov analysis is based on an online survey conducted from May 22-25 among 1,109 adults in the U.S. The margin of error for the full sample is 4 percentage points.
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