‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ Star & Breast Cancer Survivor Kathy Bates, 76, Admits Ozempic Helped Her Lose 20 Pounds After 80-Pound Transformation

Bates, who turned 76 over the summer, told People this week, “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic.

“But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”

Bates, who stars in new drama series “Matlock” as Madeline Matlock, explained further, “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem.

“[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.”

As for what pushed her to take control of her health and lose weight, she credits her type 2 diabetes diagnosis, which she receive about nine years ago.

Bates was able to take her niece’s advice and “push the plate away” when she felt fullness while eating, in addition to altering what she put in her mouth, and not eating after 8 p.m.

She explained, “I used to eat terribly: burgers and Cokes and pizza. We’ve been having trucks come to the lot over at Paramount to thank the crew, and yesterday we had Pink’s Hot Dogs.

“Oh, my God, I hadn’t had a hot dog in such a long time. Today I’m getting back on my track.”

Bates noted that the next part of her healthy living will consist of exercise.

“I have a treadmill here at the house, and I might try Pilates. People always ask, ‘Don’t you want a trainer?’ No, I really don’t. I don’t want anybody over my shoulder,” she added.

“It’s just very important to me to keep this going. I don’t want to slip.”

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A video clip of Bates’ interview with People, shared on the news outlet’s social media pages, shows the “Titantic” actress saying, “I lost 100 pounds and it all just coincided beautifully so that physically, I’m capable of doing this show.

“I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”

She commends her weight loss for also helping her with lymphedema, a condition in which extra lymph fluid builds up in tissues and causes swelling, usually in the arm and hand. It can be painful and uncomfortable.

Bates praised it as a “tremendous” help as she no longer needs to wear her compression sleeves.

She also previously told SurvivorNet, “I didn’t want to have cancer and I really don’t want to have lymphedema,” but “I feel blessed [to have the condition] because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be in a position to use my celebrity to do something that can maybe help people.”

Bates claimed that her experience with lymphedema was almost worse than having her breasts removed.

“I was bitter, I was depressed. thought my career was over, I thought, ‘There’s no way, I’m done, everything is done.’ I have to wear compression sleeves on the plane, and I have problems keeping my arms up to read books. I’m not supposed to lift things. It’s a stress and a strain,” she told SurvivorNet.

“Doctors are focused on curing cancer. My feeling is that they don’t have time [to focus on lymphedema]. They’re getting so good [at the cancer part] and more and more of us are surviving so, in my opinion, more and more of us need aftercare.”

Dr. Dung Nguyen explains what lymphedema is and how doctors monitor the condition

“Lymphedema is a disorder in which the lymph fluid which is basically interstitial fluid that leaks out from our tissue continuously cannot recirculate properly and stays stagnant in the tissue. It’s critical that you monitor for swelling since detecting lymphedema early is key,” Dr. Dung Nguyen, the director of breast reconstruction at Stanford Medicine told SurvivorNet in a previous interview on the condition.

“It’s uncomfortable and can be painful and there is no cure but there are a number of ways to treat it.”

Kathy Bates’ Ovarian & Breast Cancer Journey

Bates was diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer 21 years ago in 2003. In a prior interview with SurvivorNet, the “Misery” star said the diagnosis “knocked the stuffing out of me,” but she was lucky to have caught it early, as it was just about to spread.

She underwent surgery and chemotherapy — all while working on the 2004 film “Little Black Book.” That’s something Bates said she struggled with.

“I lost patience with people when things would be draggy. You really can’t do that on a movie set because things are going to go at the pace they’re going to go and yelling about it isn’t going to help.”

The Memphis native described the extremely difficult experience she had after having chemotherapy, saying, “You come off of the steroids, and I just found that the hardest part. It was like detoxing. I was shaking, I couldn’t talk, and I remember I had to go do a voiceover and it was just so, so difficult.”

Despite what she was going through, Bates didn’t want to tell anyone, telling Yahoo Lifestyle, “I’m very open and direct so it was hard for me not to talk to people about it. But at the same time I withdrew from all of the activities that I had in my life.”

After her private health journey, Bates decided it was time to start opening up and try to help others going through the same thing. “I don’t think I really came out about being a cancer survivor until I developed breast cancer in 2012.”

When Bates was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, she had a double mastectomy to remove both breasts, and she had 19 lymph nodes removed as well, a common treatment method when the cancer has spread beyond the breasts. The lingering pain this all caused her left her feeling worse than when she faced ovarian cancer.

Then Bates developed a condition that breast cancer patients are at higher risk for if they have lymph nodes removed from under the arm. She developed lymphedema, a swelling condition that can affect the arms, legs or other areas of the body near the lymph nodes removed.

“I was bitter, I was depressed,” she shared. “I thought my career was over, I thought, ‘There’s no way, I’m done, everything is done.’”

RELATED: Kathy Bates Says Even Holding Up a Book Is Hard Due to Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Surgery

Bates, who remains cancer-free, recognized her emotional response to her two diagnoses and lymphedema, and decided to take action, get vocal about her story, and not only raise awareness for early detection, but also help others who were going through similar challenges.

How Does Semaglutide Work?

Integral to blood sugar control, GLP-1 is a hormone released by the gut in response to food. It causes the pancreas to release insulin. A rising blood insulin level causes all the body tissues to start absorbing glucose (blood sugar) from the bloodstream, thereby lowering blood glucose levels. GLP-1 also prevents the release of glucagon, which is a hormone that raises blood sugar levels by stimulating liver cells to release glucose and helps people feel full for longer. These effects can also cause people to lose weight.

Modern studies on GLP-1 have shown that it has a role beyond glucose control. It modulates the immune system cells, including NK cells, in a way necessary for weight loss.

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, meaning that it mimics the effects of GLP-1 in the body. Given as weekly subcutaneous injections It is normally prescribed to manage blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. It also leads to a significant amount of weight loss in these patients.

Although semaglutide has been approved for blood sugar control in people with type II diabetes, under the brand name Ozempic, and for weight loss under the brand name Wegovy, it has not been approved for use as an immune booster and cancer preventative. Thus, it should not be prescribed for that purpose. Those taking it to control their diabetes or weight, however, can expect the additional benefit of improving their immunity. as per a recent study, and lowering their cancer risk, as a link between weight and cancer does exist.

Obesity & Cancer Risk

Obesity, which means having too much body fat, increases an individual’s risk of developing a range of dangerous health conditions, including several types of cancer. In addition to increasing the likelihood of developing certain cancers, obesity is associated with worse treatment outcomes.

In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Stephen Freedland of Cedars Sinai Medical Center said, “Some of the best data we have is that obesity increases the risk of not just getting prostate cancer, but actually dying from prostate cancer. Obese men are 35 percent more likely to die from prostate cancer.”

The risk is significant and that’s why Dr. Freedland counsels his patients on small, everyday changes they can make in their diet which can lead to weight loss.

“I’ve studied this area for a while,” Dr. Freedland added. “I’ve talked to a lot of dietitians, and amazingly there are just two things I can get the dietitians to agree on: trans fats are bad and simple sugars are not good.”

While obesity or a person’s high weight will not always cause them to develop cancer, other conditions associated obesity, like diabetes and heart disease, can lead to complications from cancer treatment if a person already has cancer. In addition, these conditions can sometimes prevent patients from receiving the recommended first-line therapies, as well as increase a patient’s risk of undergoing surgery.

Dr. Andrea Tufano-Sugarman of NYU Langone Health explained to SurvivorNet the benefits of losing weight.

“While all cancers cannot be prevented,” she said, “losing weight is a great way to reduce one’s risk.”

How Can Diet Affect My Cancer Risk?

Dr. Tufano-Sugarman said that this is especially true for women; they lower their risk of developing breast cancer and endometrial cancer when they lose weight and keep it of.

Even without losing weight, adopting a more nutritious diet can help.

“Food choices, independent of weight loss, may also help to reduce risk,” Dr. Tufano-Sugarman said. “Research has shown that the Mediterranean diet (rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, fish and olive oil) is associated with a decreased risk of cancer. Whereas diets rich in red meat may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal and prostate cancer.”

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

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