Watch an exclusive 1st clip of Oprah Winfrey's special on drugs used for weight loss
Winfrey revealed in December that she takes a prescription drug for weight loss.
Just months after revealing publicly she uses a medication for weight loss, Oprah Winfrey is returning to television to shine a spotlight on the topic.
Winfrey sat down with medical experts, including ABC News chief medical correspondent and obesity medicine physician Dr. Jen Ashton, and everyday people using prescription drugs for weight loss for her upcoming new special, "An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution," airing Monday at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT, on ABC.
In an exclusive first look at the special, Winfrey revealed what she hopes viewers take away from the conversation.
"The number one thing I hope people come away with is knowing that [obesity] is a disease, and it's in the brain," Winfrey said in the clip, which aired Monday on "Good Morning America."
Winfrey confirmed in December that she uses a medication to help maintain her weight after losing weight steadily over the past two years with a combination of diet and exercise.
"I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing," Winfrey told People . "The fact that there's a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier in my lifetime feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for."
She continued, "I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people, and particularly myself."
During the recording of Monday's show Ashton told Winfrey, "It is conclusively known that the conditions of overweight and obesity are complex, chronic disease states, not character flaws ... so they should be managed accordingly."
"Oh, I love that so much, Dr. Jen," Winfrey said. "It's a disease, not a character flaw."
Winfrey, 70, whose weight ups and down have been documented publicly over the years, did not name the type of medication she is taking.
Drugs that can lead to weight loss, including Ozempic, Zepbound, Wegovy and Mounjaro, have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years.
Last year, weight-loss focused companies including Noom and WeightWatchers -- Winfrey is a for the latter -- jumped into the obesity drugs market as well.
Both Ozempic and Mounjaro are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe the medication "off-label" for weight loss, as is permissible by the FDA.
Wegovy, a medication that contains the same main ingredient, semaglutide, as Ozempic, is FDA-approved for weight loss.
In November, the FDA approved Zepbound as a weight loss management treatment for people with obesity, or those who are overweight with at least one related underlying condition, such as high blood pressure -- the same prescribing guidance as Wegovy. As a diabetes drug, Zepbound is sold under the brand name Mounjaro, as the two medications contain the same active ingredient, tirzepatide.
Winfrey has said previously that she had an "aha" moment about using medication for weight loss after moderating a panel on weight for her Oprah Daily outlet last summer.
Winfrey said after the panel, she "released my own shame about it" and consulted with her doctor, who prescribed a medication for weight loss.
"I had the biggest 'aha' along with many people in that audience," Winfrey told People magazine. "I realized I'd been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control. Obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower -- it's about the brain."
Obesity is a medical condition that affects nearly 42% of people in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health risks associated with obesity include everything from stroke and heart attack to hypertension, breathing difficulties, sleep apnea and an increased risk of death.
Winfrey's new special, filmed in front of a live studio audience, will feature medical experts including Ashton, Cleveland Clinic's Dr. W. Scott Butsch and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Dr. Amanda Velazquez.
In addition to airing Monday at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC, the special will stream on Hulu starting Tuesday.
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