Semaglutide medications, like Ozempic and Wegovy, may be doing more than helping people lose weight and control diabetes; they may be contributing to hair loss.
The popular drugs have seen a surge in use in recent years, tied to their effectiveness at helping people suppress appetite and drop excess weight. The drugs have even been tied to other benefits, like preventing Alzheimer’s and improving kidney health.
However, new findings show that one of the downsides of taking the drugs could be a loss of hair.
Researchers examined 1,926 individuals on semaglutide and 1,348 users on bupropion-naltrexone, another weight management drug. Once the researchers accounted for external factors, semaglutide users had a 50% higher chance of experiencing hair loss than the second group. Notably, women fared substantially worse, with twice the risk of men.
Study co-author Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist and CEO of Epilytics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, said the findings were unsurprising since anecdotes of people losing hair after taking the drug have been reported in the past. He also said clinical trials of the medications previously showed hair loss was a possibility.
“Hair growth (and loss) are quite dependent on factors such as diet, essential vitamins, bodily stress and genetics,” Dr. Patrick Davis, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and hair restoration expert, said in an interview with Fox News.
Davis noted that the first three factors are impacted during weight loss, and as a result, he suspects weight loss driven by semaglutide use would be no different.
According to Davis, the study also noted that people who lost over 20% of their weight experienced more significant hair loss than those who did not.
“This study theorizes that this may be due to suspected physiological stress, which may be a symptom of such rapid weight loss.”
In other words, hair loss may be directly related to weight loss itself, not the method by which the weight loss occurred. It may just be that semaglutide is so effective that factors like essential vitamin consumption drop significantly, accelerating the problem.
To help combat hair loss, Davis recommends his patients consume a “hearty diet” rich in fiber, protein, and nutrient-dense foods.
“Not only may this help with hair loss, but more importantly, a strong diet can curb the unwanted loss of muscle mass that often occurs… A proper diet, conservative timetable for weight loss, and plan for exercise are essential when taking this medication,” said Davis.