{"id":923335,"date":"2026-10-10T18:32:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/923335\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T18:32:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:32:35","slug":"over-15m-people-take-glp-1-drugs-in-america-and-54-agree-on-same-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/923335\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 15M people take GLP-1 drugs in America and 54% agree on same issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever found yourself wondering about Ozempic and considered trying it, you\u2019re not alone. According to a new report, based on a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, over 15 million Americans or 1 in 8 are currently using such a drug. <\/p>\n

And while Ozempic<\/a> is associated with weight loss, that was not the original use, and current day, it\u2019s not its only use. In addition to curbing a person\u2019s appetite<\/a> it\u2019s also used in relation to type 2 diabetes<\/a>, cardiovascular protection<\/a> and kidney disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The KFF group conducted a health tracking survey, and based on their results they were able to provide percentages of who is taking what and why, according to PEOPLE magazine. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Doctor warns of risk of ‘eye stroke’ possibly linked to GLP-1 weight loss drugs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 US employers set to cut GLP-1 coverage as healthcare costs soar up to 10% next year<\/a><\/p>\n

Among the people surveyed, 43% have been told by a doctor that they have diabetes, 25% have been told they have heart disease and 22% have been told they are overweight or obese in the last five years.<\/p>\n

And while some people have taken a GLP-1 for medical reasons, approximately four in 10 adults say they took the appetite-suppressors for cosmetic reasons, specifically weight loss. <\/p>\n

\"Ozempic<\/a><\/p>\n

Ozempic was originally meant for people with type 2 diabetes, but now some people are using it for weight loss -Credit:Getty Images<\/p>\n

While a lot of people are taking the drug, and each person has their own reason, there is one concern that comes up a lot, that it\u2019s quite expensive. <\/p>\n

According to the KFF\u2019s survey, more than half (54%) of the adults who have taken GLP-1 drugs say it was difficult to afford them, including one in five people (22%) who say it was \u201cvery difficult.\u201d <\/p>\n

For some, health insurance may cover part of the cost, but even so, approximately 53% of those who used insurance still struggled to afford the drug. <\/p>\n

For individuals who are older \u2014 50 to 64 and 65 and older \u2014 are likely to have used GLP-1 drugs for health-related issues but not for weight loss with a very small proportion of 1% saying they\u2019ve used it for weight loss. <\/p>\n

On a different note, younger adults are more likely to use GLP-1 drugs solely for weight loss, according to the KFF study.<\/p>\n

The majority of people who obtaining the drugs from their primary doctor who issues a prescription, but there are some who go the more untraditional route like shopping online or at a spa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve ever found yourself wondering about Ozempic and considered trying it, you\u2019re not alone. According to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":["post-923335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}