1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025Middle East crisisRussia's war in Ukraine
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
HealthGlobal issues

Staying Thin and Healthy with a Miracle Drug?

June 21, 2024

The hype is enormous: A new weight-loss drug is being aggressively marketed on social media - promising patients a quick fix for obesity. But what’s the truth behind the hype?

https://p.dw.com/p/4hLjc
Stills aus Doku - Nahaufnahme: Gesund und schlank durch die Wunderspritze
Image: RTS

This documentary reveals the unscrupulous marketing for a weight-loss injection that’s being touted as a scientific sensation. The active ingredient involved, Semaglutide, was originally developed for diabetes patients. For people who are slightly or moderately overweight, too, it seems to be an easy way to slim down. Experts, however, are warning against people administering the injection without medical supervision.

Dr. Lucie Favre
Dr. Lucie FavreImage: RTS

"For people who just want to shed a few kilos, these new drugs are a risk. We have still have no long term data” says Dr. Lucie Favre from an obesity consultation center in Lausanne, Switzerland. The real problem for a lot of people, she adds, has more to do with poor dietary habits and insufficient exercise. "Relying solely on the injection means treating the effects of the problem and not the cause,” says Favre. 

A film investigating the benefits and dangers of the new medication.
 

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

MON 24.06.2024 – 18:15 UTC
MON 24.06.2024 – 23:30 UTC
TUE 25.06.2024 – 03:30 UTC
TUE 25.06.2024 – 09:15 UTC
TUE 25.06.2024 – 12:15 UTC
TUE 25.06.2023 – 15:15 UTC
TUE 25.06.2024 – 21:15 UTC
WED 26.06.2024 – 07:30 UTC
WED 26.06.2024 – 10:30 UTC

Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
Delhi UTC +5,5 | Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4