For years, we have all heard the drum about bad diets and obesity, and when weight-loss drugs hit the mainstream market, there was a lot of positivity about them. Ozempic and Wegovy took to the celebrity world like never before, and soon, even people you know began to try them out through pharmacy vendors and weight-loss websites. While it appeared to be a magic drug which helped people suppress their eating habits, soon, a dark cloud loomed above them. After all, nothing can be one hundred per cent positive. The side effects soon began to show – from nausea to vomiting and stomach pain (and wind I also heard!)…users began to realise that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
But as more and more people began to use the drugs to suppress their appetites, things started to take a terrifying turn. In a bid to be thinner (and healthier by association), the use of Ozempic and Wegovy became the new trend. But then people started dying. According to The BMJ, 82 deaths have been linked to adverse reactions to GLP-1 drugs, making its appeal a little more risky to a person’s health.
Even though semaglutides work to prevent and help cardiovascular diseases and manage weight loss, they can also prevent medical issues stemming from obesity, such as diabetes. But there’s another catch.
While it can help a person to live up to 40 per cent longer, it could impact the balance of life insurance and pensions.
According to a study on drugs and longevity, “Traditionally known for managing blood sugar, GLP-1, a gut hormone, is emerging as a potential key to both lengthening lifespan and combating age-related ailments.” It explained that ‘GLP-1 is increasingly recognised for its diverse effects on various biological pathways beyond glucose metabolism’ and that research suggests that ‘activating GLP-1 receptors significantly impacts cellular processes linked to ageing.’ However, some actuaries are beginning to worry that the Ozempic and Wegovy craze could become so extreme that it upends insurers’ predictions about how long people will live.
This means that it’ll affect how much money they will need to distribute to their clients before death. What could potentially happen is that insurers could go on to cut future annuity rates, impacting the value of individuals’ retirement pots. If the impact happens quickly, then the burden could fall on insurers, which will, in turn, eat away at capital buffers.
UK insurer Legal & General recently talked about whether its assumptions about life expectancy would need to change because of these drugs. Finance director Jeff Davies said, as per the Financial Times, that the group was ‘constantly monitoring’ the issue. “The damage is done,” he said. The long-term effects of semaglutide have yet to be concluded, and nobody can predict just how widespread the impact will be. But one thing for sure is that if the population begins to live longer in a short period, it’s only natural to assume that insurance and pensions will be knocked back by the effects.
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