Every day was a battle against the weight. For a woman of 175 kilos, even small, everyday chores become a chore. – Just going down to the stairs and out to the bus, I couldn’t do without sitting. – When I cooked in the kitchen, I had to have an office chair to sit on. That’s what Louise Henriette Thorsberg (44) says, who now looks back on her life two years ago. Self-esteem was at rock bottom. Increasingly, she avoided appointments with family and friends. Instead, she sat at home, despairing and depressed, while life passed by outside the living room window in Skien. – Everything revolved around what I was going to do with the weight. This was not a life, she says. BEARING FLOWERS: The plants in the apartment could give Thorsberg a break from the heavy train of thought. Now she has immortalized one of them on her shoulder. Photo: Christian Breidlid / news It wasn’t always like that for Thorsberg. In her 20s she worked as an ambulance driver. She was active and exercised a lot. – I was strong even then, but in shape. Much of it was muscle, says Thorsberg. One day she got into a head-on collision. Her foot got stuck in the dashboard, she says. TRACE LEFT: The car accident has contributed to wear and tear on the knee. Now she walks with crutches while waiting for a knee replacement. Photo: Christian Breidlid / Christian Breidlid According to the circumstances, she recovered well from it and was soon back in her dream profession. Until the doctor put his foot down. – The doctors said that there is nothing special about driving an ambulance as it is so physically demanding. It is a great strain on the body. Then she retrained as a nurse, and put herself in the harness again. She was used to giving gas. STABBED: Thorsberg gave the iron, and burned the candle at both ends. Photo: Christian Breidlid / news After several years of high tempo, it stopped. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. – I was examined and diagnosed with bipolar type 2, anxiety and depression, says Thorsberg. Soon she was completely disabled. The cohabitation with the man ended and Thorsberg was left alone. The days were long and hard. – I kind of escaped in the food. It was what I had that was pleasurable. It became a lot, often and unhealthy. Slowly but surely the kilos came. 50 KILO SIDEN: Louise H. Thorsberg with her niece Lotta. At this time, Thorsberg was around its largest. Photo: Privat / news In the end she was so big that she struggled to carry her own weight. – My parents had to walk the dog, the food was delivered to the door, and I had to sit on a stool in the shower. – It does something to the psyche, of course. I was very sorry. But things were about to turn. Thorsberg had heard praise for Ozempic for weight reduction, and suggested it to the GP. The blood tests showed that she had developed diabetes type 2. Thus, she met the criteria, and was prescribed the medicine on a blue prescription together with another medicine. CLICK: Time for your weekly dose of Ozempic. Photo: Christian Breidlid / news The effect was immediate, she says. – I had less of an appetite, and stuck to eating one dinner a day, compared to three previously. – During the first eight months I lost 50 kilos. The billion industry The new drugs are described as a revolution in the treatment of obesity. A weekly poke in the stomach and hunger is curbed, you get full faster and your sweet tooth subsides. The drugs lack parallels in the drug treatment of obesity. Many Norwegians have learned that. In 2023, over 175,000 people in Norway were prescribed at least one of the medicines Saxenda, Ozempic or Wegovy. This shows figures from the Medicines Register that news has received. THE AFTERTRACT: More and more Norwegians want to get hold of this. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB All of the medicines are produced by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. The company is now Europe’s largest, with a market value that would make even Uncle Skrue gape: NOK 5.18 trillion. That with a net profit of NOK 127 billion last year, up 51 percent from the previous year. Scarcity of satiety Of the mentioned medicines, it is Ozempic and Wegovy that are clearly the largest on the Norwegian market. Simply put, only marketing separates them. Ozempic is a diabetes medicine, Wegovy a medicine for weight reduction. Both contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide. The substance helps to regulate blood sugar. In addition, it reduces activity in the stomach, which dampens hunger signals to the brain. NEW GIVE: Increased satiety and less hunger kicked off the lifestyle change that Thorsberg wanted. Photo: Christian Breidlid / news Ozempic quickly established itself as a favorite obesity medication in Norway. But the high demand meant that many pharmacies were empty when the diabetics were to pick up their medicine. In order to solve the shortage, the state looked up foreign gaskets, which were up to 7 times as expensive as the Norwegian ones. So far this year, the National Insurance Institute has spent 1.4 billion on Ozempic. That is as much as the whole of last year combined. On 1 July, the authorities put their foot down and tightened the requirements. This is how they tighten up Now GPs must apply to Helfo for each individual patient who needs the medicine. No one can go on Ozempic without also taking another diabetes medicine. Prescriptions already written are valid until September 22. No new prescriptions will be written from 1 July, without the doctor having first applied for individual approval for each patient. According to the current rules, there are few people in Norway who are covered for this type of medicine for the treatment of obesity. There may be a change in that now. Asking for Wegovy on a blue prescription Last week, Novo Nordisk sent an application to the Norwegian health authorities that more patients should receive Wegovy on a blue prescription. – We can inform you that this week we have submitted a new reimbursement application for Wegovy, writes community and authority contact at Novo Nordisk, Tor Frostelid, in an e-mail to news. The company wants people who are morbidly overweight and weight-related additional disorders to be covered for the medicine. Morbidly overweight is defined by a body mass index (BMI) of 40 and above. HAS THE INITIATIVE: Senior doctor Sigurd Hortemo and DMP will assess the application from Novo Nordisk. Photo: Hanna Johre / news The Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) confirms to news that they have received the application. – They have provided documentation so that we can assess whether the benefits are in a reasonable relationship to the costs for this limited group of patients, says senior physician Sigurd Hortemo at DMP. Several experts news has spoken to support Novo Nordisk’s proposal. SAYING YES: Jøran Hjelmesæth heads the Center for Morbid Obesity at Vestfold Hospital and is a professor at the Department of Endocrinology at UiO. Photo: Julie Trulsvik Rasmussen Head of Department Jøran Hjelmesæth at the Center for Morbid Obesity at Vestfold Hospital indicates that Wegovy has a weight-reducing effect of between 12 and 13 per cent. – My argument is that Wegovy is so effective that it becomes illogical that society pays for weight-reducing operations and not for Wegovy, he says. Thinks the current regulations are anti-social Senior doctor Hilde Selsås at the obesity outpatient clinic at St. Olav’s hospital supports strict guidelines, but believes that those with severe obesity should be included in the blue receptor trial for Wegovy. – It can save large healthcare costs in the long term. It can help keep people at work longer, and keep them healthy longer. DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION: Today, it is money that largely determines which obesity treatment Norwegians receive, Svendsen believes. Photo: Private Head of the Norwegian Association for Obesity Research, Mette Svendsen, believes that the current system reinforces social inequality. – Those who can afford it pay for it themselves. But there are groups in society who do not have that opportunity, and then they do not receive the best possible treatment. For information: Hjelmesæth and Selsås have given lectures for Novo Nordisk for a fee. Mette Svendsen has lectured for Navamedic for a fee. Louise Henriette Thorsberg is aware that far more people with morbid obesity should have the costs of Wegovy covered. Not everyone who is morbidly obese meets the criteria to receive Ozempic. But it is still a vulnerable group, she explains, and lists the accompanying diseases. – Cardiovascular diseases, stroke, several forms of cancer, type 2 diabetes… It’s a long list. – In the long run, it is a burden on society and the healthcare system when this has to be treated. Quality time For Thorsberg, the days are easier now. – I train four times a week, I see more of my family and go on trips. It’s good for body and soul, she says. GIVING BACK: Thorsberg collects the parents’ mail when they are away. Photo: Christian Breidlid / news She finds great joy in being useful to others. – Being able to contribute and be counted on. It gives a feeling of mastery. Now she is looking forward to visiting a friend in Bodø. Later, she will go on a motorhome trip with her father. – That I can join the trip, and have father-daughter time – that gives a lot. Published 16.07.2024, at 18.52 Updated 16.07.2024, at 19.06
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Lost 50 kilos – believes more people should be covered by “diet medicine” – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
