"Ahmed, who is a consultant surgeon and also carries out gastric band surgeries, said: "We don't know whether it's the injections that are causing the gallstones, or is it because the injections are causing rapid weight loss, which then in turn causes the gallstones? "Clearly this area needs further research to find out if it's causative or not.""
"On Thursday, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) updated its guidance on GLP-1 injections, like Wegovy, regarding the risk of acute pancreatitis, which is often linked to gallstones."
"According to the latest best estimates by researchers from University College London, about 1.6 million UK adults have used weight-loss injections in the past year mostly bought through private prescriptions rather than on the NHS. Most had positive experiences, with no gallstone complications."
Specialist doctors are calling for further research into a potential connection between weight-loss injections and increased gallbladder removals. NHS England recorded the highest number of gallbladder surgeries in 2024-25 in the past decade. Surgeons report doing more operations and encountering patients who say they used weight-loss injections. Gallstones are listed as a common side effect of GLP-1 treatments, and the MHRA updated guidance about acute pancreatitis risk. Manufacturers of Mounjaro, Wegovy and Saxenda state that patient safety is prioritised and adverse reaction reports are monitored. UCL estimates about 1.6 million UK adults used these injections, mostly privately.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]