Sorting Out the Buzz About Muscle Loss with GLP-1 Medicines

Three Muscle FibersAmid a great deal of excitement about the value of GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide and tirzepatide for obesity, there is also a buzz of concern about muscle loss. Is it a reason to think twice about these new treatments? Or is it merely a reason for caution?

Not Unique to GLP-1s

Carla Prado, Stuart Phillips, Cristina Gonzales, and Steven Heymsfield published a new commentary this week to offer perspective. In Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, they tell us this concern is nothing new. This muscle loss is likely a result of substantial weight loss – not a unique effect of GLP-1 medicines Even with simple caloric restriction to lose weight, it can occur. But they caution that clinicians should pay close attention nonetheless:

“Dismissing the importance of muscle loss can create a disconnect between patients’ increased awareness of muscle and the role it plays in health, and clinicians who downplay these concerns, affecting adherence to and the development of optimised treatment plans.”

A Shift in Focus

All this buzz has implications for advancing the field of obesity care. Writing in Nature Reviews Endocrinology, David Hope and Tricia Tan call for a new orientation:

“The focus of weight-loss pharmacotherapy must shift from simple weight loss towards healthy weight loss and preservation of SMM, strength and quality. Further investigation is warranted into the effects of multi-agonists on skeletal muscle, particularly in patients with sarcopenia.”

Indeed, we all need to pay greater attention to health gains through obesity care. Weight loss is hardly unimportant, but it is an imperfect surrogate for the health and life goals many persons with obesity are pursuing.

Click here for the commentary by Prado et al, here for Hope and Tan.

Three Muscle Fibers, image by Christopher Pappas and Carol Gregorio via the NIH Image Gallery, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

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October 12, 2024

One Response to “Sorting Out the Buzz About Muscle Loss with GLP-1 Medicines”

  1. October 12, 2024 at 12:20 pm, Allen Browne said:

    Yup!
    Treating the disease of obesity is far more than producing weight loss. The goal is improved health for each person

    Allen