Hormones are the body's messengers, communicating between different organs and tissues, coordinating everything from whether we get periods to when we sleep.

GLP-1 is a type of hormone known as an incretin. Manage Preferencesįrom RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, GP and obesity medicine specialist Dr Michael Crotty on the Ozempic drug Please review their details and accept them to load the content. We need your consent to load this rte-player content We use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. A synthetic version of Exendin-4 was developed to treat diabetes in the early 2000s and other GLP-1 mimicking drugs have been developed since, including liraglutide (Saxenda) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). Surprisingly, they are based not on human GLP-1 but on a similar substance, Exendin-4, that was discovered in the venom of the Gila monster, a lizard found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. These drugs come in pre-loaded injection pens, similar to the EpiPen for anaphylaxis, and mimic the action of GLP-1, a hormone that occurs naturally in the human body. It is one of a range of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. Wegovy is a brand name for semaglutide, a drug which has been used to treat diabetes under the brand name Ozempic since 2017. The EU approval of Wegovy marks a new era in obesity treatment. Opinion: We must remember that these drugs are intended to treat chronic illness and not be used as beauty products for the rich and image-conscious

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