Dr Richard Barbor: bariatric specialist on the misconceptions surrounding Ozempic and weight-loss drugs

Weight-loss drugs have seen a surge in popularity in recent years - but there's still common misconceptions about what they can do for people.

Drugs like Ozempic, which isn’t available in New Zealand, were developed to treat diabetes but after clinical trials, the drugs were found to aid weight-loss.

Bariatric specialist Dr Richard Barbor explains these drugs can help people with weight-loss - but they're not a 'magic pill' for the obesity epidemic.

"It's overhyped, it's oversold - there's a lot of common misinformation out there around it. I mean, there's no doubt that it's revolutionary... but Ozempic itself is not that great at helping people lose weight."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
On the line is doctor Richard Barber. He is a
bariatric specialist. He is very renowned in this country and
he has given us a bit of his time. Good
a doctor Barber.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello, Hey, thank you for talking to us today. So
just just to make it succinct for everyone listening, how
exactly does a zimpec and the like work.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
Well, they are GDLP one receptor antagonists. They work on
the receptors that help the pancreas release insulin and it's
quite so good for diabetes. And they also work on
other receptors in the brain and the liver which keep
our blood sugars down and helps to contrain control appetite

(01:04):
in the sensation of feeling full.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Richard, how much is it a magic pill? And you know,
you say it makes you feel full full, but it
also has a sort of a physiological effect in terms
of how you're processing the food in terms of digestin.
But how much does a person have to bring willpower
to it as well?

Speaker 4 (01:22):
Well? You know it's funny that you use that expression
the magic because it's not a pill, it's an injection,
so that's a big difference.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
But it can be there. But there are forms of
it that do come as a pot.

Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah, sure, and there will be forms of it that
do come in an oral formulation, But it is important
to be clear about that because taking a pill is
one thing, and injecting yourself every day with sexender or
lyric glue tide is the name of the drug, is
quite a big thing, and that's one of the things

(01:54):
that stops people doing it for long periods of time.
They get sick of injecting themselves every week.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Do you worry, sorry to jump in there, doctor Barber,
do you worry that some of the public relations around
particular ozempac does present it as some sort of miracle
drug that you can take and you're not going to
have to do any sort of exercise or eat healthy,
and it's going to help you lose weight. Do you
get that sense from the I.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Think that it's overhyped and over sold and there's a
lot of kind of misinformation out there around it. I mean,
there's no doubt that it's revolutionary new category of medicines.
They're very effective. The zempic itself is not that great
at helping people lose weight. Patients and lose around fifteen,

(02:43):
perhaps at most twenty percent of their weight on average.
There are new drugs that are in the pipeline where
perhaps they won't need to be injected, could be taken
orally and have a similar effect and help patients lose
even more weight, and that will be even better. But
you know they're not it's certainly not a magic pill

(03:04):
in a solution. There's recent study in the UK that
showed that only about twenty percent of people who are
starting on sex Center are still taking it after a year,
and they stop taking it because of side effects and
they get and the cost is another big issue for
patients in the UK, and they also don't they get

(03:26):
sick of injecting themselves and they get side effects like
nausea and vomiting.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
How much does it cost?

Speaker 4 (03:34):
How much does it cost?

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (03:36):
In New Zealand it's about five hundred.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Dollars a month, right, right, so very expension.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, well, yeah, beyond most people's ability to afford it.
And then at the moment these medications, it's well known
that you take them and then as soon as you
stop taking them, and you regain weight. So it's not
like you can just take it for a year, lose
ten kilos or twenty heroes and then stop and you're good.

(04:03):
You'll just regain that because your brain switches back on,
your appetite comes back, and you start regaining weight almost immediately.
Were you'll question about what was the other question that
you just well, what we've.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Been chatting about is whether it should be subsidized in
New Zealand, whether you know, on a cost benefit analysis
argument that if you help people maintain a healthy rate
early on before they get diabetes, that it might be
worth while. Where do you sit on that side of
that argument.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
Ah, yeah, I think it's probably a good idea. Of
people were talking about that all over the world. The
NHS is looking at it. I think there's pretty soon
healthcare you know, insurers and providers in the United States
are probably going to do it because they probably will
save the money. Having said that that, these are things
sort of that have extrapolated from other data in terms

(04:57):
of you know, like, no one's proven that it saves money,
but in fact, bariatric surgery and absolute this is shameless plug.
There's absolutely data that shows that it saves the healthcare
the money, and that's locked in because it's been around
for thirty years, so you know, people are speculating about it.
I only think it's a very good idea because it's
kind of a bit more accessible and less scary than surgery.

(05:21):
People do lose weight, You do want to stop people
getting diabetes, and it probably will enable people who currently
can't work because the health problems get back into work,
and it'll probably save the healthcare system money in the
long run.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
If you take the drug, does it need to be
backed up with We're talking to Bill before and he
had a dietitian on board and he brought in some exercise.
Does it need to have that pairing? Take the drug
and also teach yourself how to live going forward in
a more healthy fashion.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
One of the things about the drug is that sort
of forces you that sex ended particularly and I'm not
so sure about the newer ones that are coming down
the pipeline, like tu zipotide, which has been talked about
a lot, which is the next generation after a zempic.
It has fewer side effects, but what happens is that

(06:15):
if you eat a lot of carbohydrates or refined carbohydrates
and ocroprocessed food. It brings on the side effects of
a drug, so it kind of teaches people not to
eat noodles and biscuit writing chips, and so it's actually
part of the effect of the drug, right that it
kind of corners people into eating wholt foods which are

(06:37):
better for you.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, Doctor Richard Barber, thank you very much for your time.
He is a bariatric specialist and a very renowned surgeon
in New Zealand. Fascinating part of the medical industry you
work in, Doctor Barber.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
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