Tag: GLP-1 agonist

Categories : Cardiovascular Disease Metabolic DisordersTags : Leave a comment

GLP-1 Drug Linked to Heart Benefits for High-risk Patients

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Findings from clinical practice will help inform shared decision making

Human heart. Credit: Scientific Animations CC4.0

Adding the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug tirzepatide to standard care for patients with type 2 diabetes and heart disease is associated with a lower risk of a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Randomised trials and observational studies have shown non-inferior effects of tirzepatide compared to another GLP-1 receptor agonist, dulaglutide, for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) – a combined measure of heart attack, stroke, and death from any cause. But evidence on the effects of adding tirzepatide to standard care is more limited, resulting in uncertainty for both regulators and clinicians.

To address this, researchers analysed clinical practice data from two US health insurance claims databases between May 2022 and May 2025. They aimed to estimate the cardiovascular effects of adding tirzepatide to standard care for patients with type 2 diabetes, a body mass index of at least 25, and established heart disease by comparing the outcomes to sitagliptin, another diabetes drug.

Sitagliptin was chosen as a neutral placebo proxy based on several studies showing no effect on cardiovascular outcomes.

The main outcome of interest was a reduction in MACE, which was monitored from the first day of treatment up to one year, or until the individual stopped or switched treatment, or disenrolled from the health plan.

Factors including age, sex, race, body mass index, previous heart problems, other chronic conditions, and medication use were taken into account, and a technique called propensity score overlap weighting was used to balance out differences between the two groups to draw more reliable conclusions.

A total of 52,971 individuals were included in the analysis (average age 70 years; 51% female), of whom 35,353 started tirzepatide and 17,618 started sitagliptin.

At one year, the risk of MACE was 2.9% in the tirzepatide group and 4.4% in the sitagliptin group (a 32% relative reduction), and the researchers estimate that for every 70 patients starting tirzepatide, one case of MACE would be prevented.

For individual MACE components, tirzepatide was associated with a 33% lower risk of heart attack compared with sitagliptin, whereas ischaemic stroke showed no meaningful difference.

Infections requiring hospital admission were also lower with tirzepatide (one admission prevented for every 48 patients), as was infection related death (one death prevented for every 200 patients) and death from any cause (one death prevented for every 122 patients).

This is an observational study, but the researchers previously benchmarked their design, data, and analytics infrastructure against a randomised controlled trial before drawing conclusions about cause and effect.

They also acknowledge several limitations including a relatively short follow-up period, which may underestimate long term cardiovascular and safety effects, possible misclassification of treatment duration or outcomes, and findings may not apply to other healthcare systems or patients without established cardiovascular disease.

However, they conclude: “This study shows how trial-anchored evidence from clinical practice can estimate the expected cardiovascular benefit of initiating tirzepatide beyond standard background treatment and inform shared decision making.”

A linked editorial notes that while this study provides an important, transparent estimate of what initiating tirzepatide might achieve in routine care, it does not establish a mortality indication or define the best sequence for cardiometabolic therapy.

The authors say longer follow-up, randomised and pragmatic comparisons, and more studies of additive benefit on contemporary background treatment are needed. Furthermore, cardiovascular efficacy cannot benefit a population if cost, authorisation barriers, supply, and discontinuation prevent sustained treatment, they add.

As such, they conclude: “The signal is compelling; the causal and clinical placement questions remain open.”

Source: BMJ Group

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags : Leave a comment

South Africa’s Weight-Management Market Needs Stronger Safeguards for Women

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By Dr Gerhard Vosloo, Founder and Head Consulting Practitioner at Dr GL Vosloo Medical Practice, managed by BioWell

Prescription-based weight management treatment has surged into the mainstream, giving more people with genuine clinical needs access to potentially life-changing care. However, the market’s growth has not been matched by consistently high standards of care. This Women’s Month, we must confront the fact that many women remain particularly vulnerable to inadequate clinical oversight, inappropriate prescribing practices, and black-market products that operate outside established medical safeguards.

Nearly seven in ten adult South African women are obese, compared to four in ten men. Women therefore account for a significant share of the weight-management market and, as a result, may face greater exposure to irresponsible medical practices and unregulated black-market options, where proper clinical support and control are virtually non-existent.

At Dr GL Vosloo Medical Practice, managed by BioWell, women make up the majority of patients seeking a holistic weight-loss and metabolic management programme, which may include prescription treatment where clinically justified. Concerningly, some patients arriving from other programmes report excessively high dosages of treatments, with scarce oversight or guidance. Others have used black-market products and later sought professional medical help after struggling to manage their treatment safely and effectively.

These experiences demonstrate exactly why prescription treatment should form part of a broader, medically-supervised programme rather than a medication-only approach. As more women seek treatment, the industry has a duty to help them understand what good clinical care and appropriate dosing practices involve, as well as how to distinguish a medically grounded programme from those built primarily around access to medication.

Not all weight-management programmes are created equal. Patients should look for a few key indicators that suggest a provider is delivering safe, responsible care:

  1. Screening should begin before the consultation

Before the first appointment is even scheduled, a reputable practice or physician should gather sufficient information to understand a patient’s medical history, current health status, and potential risk factors. For example, intake forms may ask about previous weight-loss treatments, allergies, pregnancy or breastfeeding status, eating habits, goals, and other information that may help the practitioner identify contraindications early.

Patients should expect this information to be reviewed before they proceed. Any omissions or concerns should be raised, while patients with possible contraindications, urgent medical issues, or conditions outside the programme’s scope should be informed and referred where necessary.

  1. The consultation should establish clinical need and risk

Patients should expect a thorough consultation that explores their concerns, goals, medical and treatment history, symptoms, and relevant lifestyle or health factors. It should also give the doctor an opportunity to clarify uncertainties, identify undisclosed contraindications, and assess appetite, eating behaviour, level of activity, sleep quality, and mental health.

For women, this may include menstrual health, contraceptive use, pregnancy plans, breastfeeding, menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome, hormone treatment, and previous gestational diabetes.

A medical assessment should establish whether prescription treatment is clinically appropriate, rather than being prescribed simply because a patient wants to lose weight. Relevant considerations may include body measurements, blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, organ and thyroid function, vitamin and hormone levels, and pregnancy screening where relevant.

  1. Treatment decisions should be fully explained before consent

Doctors should provide a clear explanation of whether prescription therapy is appropriate, whether it should be delayed or avoided, or whether another treatment approach may be more suitable. Prescription-based medication should not be framed as the primary intervention, although it may form part of a broader programme covering nutrition, exercise, behaviour, supplementation, metabolic support, clinical monitoring, and guidance on how these elements work together.

Before written consent is given, patients should be informed about the expected benefits, potential side effects, serious risks, contraindications, alternatives, monitoring requirements, and circumstances under which treatment may be stopped. Women should also be informed about how pregnancy plans, breastfeeding, hormonal treatment, or changing health circumstances may affect whether treatment can begin or continue.

  1. Prescriptions should be individualised and closely monitored

Patients should be cautious of one-size-fits-all prescribing practices. Treatment should reflect the individual’s clinical needs and risk profile, using a conservative approach rather than a standard dose or automatic escalation schedule.

Ongoing follow-up is equally important. Regular check-ins should track progress, side effects, relevant eating and lifestyle factors, and any changes in health or medication use, with treatment adjusted accordingly. For women, this continuity is particularly important because hormonal, reproductive, and life-stage circumstances may change during treatment and affect how care is managed.

Women should not have to navigate a fast-moving treatment market through trial and error. By understanding the characteristics of safe, medically supervised care, patients are better equipped to make informed choices. Ultimately, however, the responsibility rests with practitioners and clinics to make ethical, medically-grounded care easy to recognise from the outset. Public trust in this treatment category will depend on how consistently the industry meets that standard.

Categories : Metabolic Disorders Substance UseTags :

Newer Obesity Drugs Linked to Fewer Alcohol-related Hospitalisations

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Use of newer GLP-1 receptor agonists for obesity or diabetes was associated with a reduction in hospital admissions suggesting a potential role for the treatment of alcohol-use disorder

Photo from Pixabay CC0

Use of newer GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide or tirzepatide) for obesity or diabetes by people with alcohol-use disorder was associated with a reduction in alcohol-related admissions to hospital, finds a study published online in the open access journal BMJ Open.

The findings suggest a potential role for the drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide in the treatment of alcohol-use disorder.

While GLP-1 receptor agonists are used primarily for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, there have been reports of reduced alcohol consumption among patients taking the drugs, prompting the authors to investigate the potential impact on alcohol-related hospitalisations among adults with alcohol-use disorder.

The study compared alcohol-related hospitalisations in 40 703 adults with alcohol-use disorder and type 2 diabetes or obesity who started a newer GLP-1 receptor agonist (semaglutide or tirzepatide) or a comparator drug between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2024. Participants were split across four trials involving clinically distinct populations – the anti-diabetic medication (ADM) trial, anti-obesity medication (AOM) trial, medications for alcohol use disorder with type 2 diabetes (MAUD- T2D) trial, and medications for alcohol-use disorder with obesity (MAUD-obesity) trial.

Compared to participants taking an active comparator drug, those taking GLP-1 receptor agonists had a lower risk of alcohol-related admission to hospital during all four trials.

Use of GLP-1 receptor agonists was associated with a 26% lower risk of alcohol-related hospital admission than other diabetes medicines during the diabetic medication (ADM) trial, and a 32% lower risk of alcohol-related hospital admission than other obesity medicines during the anti-obesity medication (AOM) trial.

In the MAUD trials, the active comparators were drugs for alcohol-use disorder including acamprosate, disulfiram and naltrexone. Compared with taking drugs for alcohol-use disorder, use of GLP-1 receptor agonists by adults with type 2 diabetes was associated with a 63% lower risk of alcohol-related admission to hospital during the trial, and for adults with obesity use of GLP-1 receptor agonists was associated a 65% lower risk of alcohol-related hospitalisations.

The authors acknowledge several limitations to their study. Most importantly, alcohol-use disorder is under-captured due in part to stigmatisation, and when documented, it may also be recorded variably with lower reporting in areas of high social deprivation. Alcohol-related outcomes may have been under captured as they were defined using diagnosis codes and laboratory testing for alcohol exposure, and the study captured hospitalisations from treatment initiation to discontinuation in a trial environment, so treatment effects in an average clinical setting may differ.

Finally, there may have been some confounding in relation to socioeconomic status, underlying clinical stability or alcohol-use disorder severity, and healthcare engagement, as newer GLP-1 receptor agonists are higher-cost therapies and patients with access to these medications may differ from comparator groups.

The risk of residual confounding was greatest in the MAUD trials, as reflected by the reduced risk of non-alcohol-related hospitalisations with use of GLP-1 receptor agonists. The authors say the results of the MAUD trials should be interpreted with greater caution as there were also high rates of treatment discontinuation increasing the potential for bias.

Nevertheless, the authors conclude, “Initiation of newer GLP-1 receptor agonists among patients with alcohol-use disorder was associated with a lower observed risk of alcohol-related hospitalisation, with similar associations across populations with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

“These findings may suggest a potential role for GLP-1 receptor agonists in the context of alcohol-use disorder.”

Source: The BMJ Group

Categories : DermatologyTags :

Blaming GLP-1 Medication for Hair Loss? You Might Be Asking the Wrong Question

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Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya

Globally, more people are using GLP-1 and other weight-loss medicines, and some are experiencing severe hair loss while taking them. But just because it is happening during treatment does not necessarily mean the treatment caused it. According to Dr Kashmal Kalan, Medical Director at Alvi Armani, “Hair shedding during treatment isn’t always caused by the medicine itself. In many cases, it may be the body’s response to losing weight too quickly. Your body reacts as though food is scarce and thinks: ‘Hair isn’t essential. Let’s save energy’.”

Rapid weight loss can increase the risk of temporary hair shedding, whether it follows GLP-1 treatment, bariatric surgery, a very low-calorie diet, or illness. The trigger is often the speed and extent of the weight loss rather than the treatment itself. Eating much less can also leave patients short of nutrients that hair needs. “Think of hair like a houseplant. If you don’t water it enough with the right nutrients, it grows poorly. It doesn’t necessarily die permanently but simply pauses its growth.”

The concern is becoming more relevant as weight-loss medicine use grows in South Africa. Discovery Bank and Visa’s latest SpendTrend report found that 14% of surveyed higher-income South Africans use prescribed weight-management medication. Clinical research has also found that GLP-1 medicines reduced energy intake on a controlled test day by nearly a quarter compared with placebo, which helps explain why nutritional adequacy may become more important when appetite drops.

Dr Kalan says Alvi Armani is seeing more patients who report sudden hair shedding weeks or months after starting weight loss treatment and assume the medicine is directly responsible. The consultation must then establish when the shedding began, how quickly the patient lost weight, how their eating patterns changed, and whether another medical cause needs to be investigated.

The potential causes behind rapid hair loss

A review of nearly half a million adults on GLP-1 treatment found vitamin D deficiency in 7.5% of patients at six months, climbing to 13.6% by twelve months. That’s why bloodwork and not a shopping list of supplements is the first step in any hair loss consultation at Alvi Armani, whether GLP-1-related or not. Standard testing includes vitamin D, B12, ferritin, and thyroid function as standard.

“Ferritin, the protein that stores iron, is one marker I monitor closely. A level below 30 ng/mL, generally considered indicative of low iron stores in adults, is often enough to cause shedding on its own, even though most labs still call that number normal. Most of these patients feel completely fine elsewhere, so there’s no reason for a routine GP visit to pick it up. By the time the hair’s already falling out, we go back and look for what that visit potentially missed.”

Some patients may also reach for gut-health supplements because they assume hair loss comes from issues in the gut. However, Dr Kalan notes, probiotics will only address the problem if a digestive condition is actually contributing to it. Research remains limited, with the largest randomised trial to date finding reduced shedding among the probiotic group, but no meaningful improvement in hair density or thickness.

“If someone has a diagnosed digestive condition, that’s worth treating, and probiotics may have a place. Outside of that, I’d rather see patients pursue tests that can identify what’s missing than a supplement with no clear indication, strain, or dose.”

Dr Kalan encourages anyone on a GLP-1 medication to take shedding seriously if it continues past three months, worsens noticeably, or comes with fatigue or other symptoms that don’t add up. “These medications genuinely change lives for the right patient. If your registered health professional recommends continuation, stay on it. Just make sure your body is still getting what it needs.”

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

Sun Pharma Launches Generic Semaglutide in South Africa

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Johannesburg, 21 July 2026 — Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (Reuters: SUN.BO, Bloomberg: SUNP IN, NSE: SUNPHARMA, BSE: 524715) (together with its subsidiaries and/or associated companies, “Sun Pharma”) today announced the launch of generic semaglutide, a once‑weekly GLP‑1 receptor agonist, in South Africa for the treatment of adults with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adjunct to diet and exercise.

The product is supplied in a pre‑filled, multi‑dose injectable pen in two strengths (2 mg/1.5 mL and 4 mg/3 mL) that allow flexible, once‑weekly dosing. The device features a smooth dialer for accurate dose selection and a concealed needle to improve handling safety and reduce injection anxiety. The pens are manufactured in Europe and developed with established pharmaceutical device suppliers.

“Type 2 diabetes remains a major public‑health challenge in South Africa,” said Malcolm Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Pharma South Africa. “The availability of generic semaglutide strengthens the range of evidence‑based treatment options available to clinicians and patients. Our objective is to support better clinical outcomes by improving access to proven therapies that can be integrated into comprehensive diabetes care.”

Clinical context and public‑health relevance

  • Type 2 Diabetes remains one of South Africa’s most significant public health challenges. As per the International Diabetes Federation country report, it is estimated that 3.9 million patients aged 20-79 would be living with diabetes in South Africa by 2050.
  • South Africa faces a growing burden of type 2 diabetes, driven in part by rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles. This rising prevalence places significant pressure on patients and healthcare services. Improving access to effective therapies is therefore an important component of addressing this national health challenge.
  • With the launch of generic semaglutide in South Africa, Sun Pharma aims to provide clinicians and patients with an additional licensed option for comprehensive diabetes management, supporting better long‑term outcomes when used alongside diet and exercise.

Regulatory and medical review

Healthcare professionals are advised to consult full prescribing information and local treatment guidelines when considering semaglutide for individual patients. The company’s local medical team is available to assist clinicians with scientific inquiries and product information.

About Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited. (CIN – L24230GJ1993PLC019050)

Sun Pharma is a leading global pharmaceutical company with a presence in Innovative Medicines, Generics and Consumer Healthcare products. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in India and is a leading generic company in the US as well as Global Emerging Markets. Sun’s high growth Global Innovative Medicines portfolio spans innovative products in dermatology, ophthalmology, and onco-dermatology and accounts for about 22% of company sales. The company’s vertically integrated operations deliver high-quality medicines, trusted by physicians and consumers in over 100 countries. Its manufacturing facilities are spread across five continents. Sun Pharma is proud of its multi-cultural workforce drawn from over 50 nations. “For further information, please visit www.sunpharma.com and follow us on LinkedIn & X (Formerly Twitter).”

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

Most Obesity Drugs Do Not Improve Quality of Life or Heart Health

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Treatment decisions should be individualised, balancing expected benefits, harms, treatment burden, costs, availability, and patient preferences, say researchers

By HualinXMN – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Despite substantial weight loss, most obesity drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro do not meaningfully improve quality of life and few show cardiovascular benefits at one year, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.

More weight loss is also generally accompanied by greater harms including stomach and bowel symptoms, fatigue, and loss of lean (muscle) mass – and improvements are not sustained after stopping treatment.

Several drugs for adults with overweight or obesity produce substantial weight loss, but most have not been compared directly in head-to-head trials, leaving uncertainty about the broader balance of benefits and harms.

To address this, researchers searched scientific databases for randomised controlled trials comparing one or more drugs with lifestyle changes, placebo, or another drug.

They found 262 eligible trials involving 99,791 participants (average age 49; 63% female; average BMI 35) that evaluated 19 currently available and emerging obesity drugs with follow-up from 12 to 172 weeks.

Benefits included changes in body weight, fat mass, and quality of life, while potential harms included changes in lean mass, gastrointestinal adverse events, gallbladder related disorders and fatigue.

The trials were of varying quality, but the researchers were able to assess the certainty of evidence using the recognised GRADE system.

Compared with lifestyle changes alone, the largest weight loss after one year was with tirzepatide (14.9%) and CagriSema (14.8%), followed by oral semaglutide (10.9%), orforglipron (9.9%), subcutaneous semaglutide (9.8%), and phentermine-topiramate (8.1%).

Emerging drugs – including retatrutide, ecnoglutide, and mazdutide – showed large effects on weight loss but are supported by low or very low certainty evidence.

Greater weight loss was consistently accompanied by higher rates of side effects and treatment discontinuation, which the authors say indicates a clear benefit-harm trade-off.

Tirzepatide reduced fat mass the most (by 25.7%) but also lean mass the most (8.3%). Subcutaneous semaglutide was the only drug associated with a reduced risk of death from any cause (19%), heart attack (28%), and heart failure (57%). Tirzepatide also reduced heart failure risk by 51%.

No drug convincingly reduced kidney failure or showed clinically important improvements in quality of life.

The authors acknowledge that most trials had relatively short follow-up, limiting conclusions about long term safety, quality of life, and effects on heart and kidney health. In addition, evidence for several newer drugs was sparse and of low certainty, and trial populations may not fully represent real world patients.

However, they say this review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date comparison of currently available and emerging obesity drugs across a broad set of outcomes important to patients, clinicians, and policymakers.

They conclude: “Treatment decisions for obesity should be individualised, balancing expected benefits, harms, treatment burden, costs, availability, and patient preferences.”

This study represents an important step in providing comparative information to inform patient-clinician discussions about obesity drugs in this rapidly evolving landscape of treatment options, say researchers in a linked editorial.

And they suggest future studies that incorporate individual characteristics, as well as long term outcomes, such as mortality, should provide additional data to inform individualised decision making.

Source: The BMJ Group

Categories : Ageing Metabolic DisordersTags :

Popular GLP-1 Drug May Slow Down Biological Aging

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By calming inflammation and reducing excess fat, semaglutide may postpone several molecular signs of aging, pointing to the potential of GLP‑1 receptor agonists to help prevent age‑related diseases.

Photo by Haberdoedas on Unsplash

Semaglutide slowed biological aging across multiple epigenetic clocks in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The strongest signals were seen in epigenetic measures linked to inflammation, brain, heart, blood, kidney, liver and metabolic health, suggesting that the drug may influence aging-related biology across multiple body systems. The findings offer early clinical evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists may influence aging biology.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications have gained widespread attention for effectively treating obesity, lowering blood sugar and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some researchers have proposed that these drugs may also influence the biology of aging, but direct evidence in humans has remained limited. Now, a new study provides the first randomised, placebo-controlled clinical evidence that semaglutide, a widely used GLP-1 drug, slows down the accumulation of biological aging markers in the DNA of adults with HIV. The study is published in Nature Communications.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and several partner institutions analysed data from a previously published clinical trial of 108 adults with HIV‑associated lipohypertrophy, a condition in which excess fat builds up around the abdomen. About half of the participants received weekly injections of semaglutide, with the rest receiving placebo injections.

The team used a set of biological “epigenetic clocks” to track cellular aging over the 32-week treatment period. These clocks detect DNA methylation, chemical marks on DNA that help regulate how genes are turned on or off without changing the genetic sequence itself. By measuring changes in these marks, the team could assess whether the treatment was associated with a slower or faster biological aging pattern.

People with HIV often experience accelerated aging, even if it is well-controlled with antiretroviral therapy, according to first author Michael Corley, PhD, associate professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging. However, the study found compared to the placebo group:

  • Participants treated with semaglutide exhibited a broad pattern of slower biological aging across epigenetic clocks linked to inflammation and blood, brain, heart, kidney, liver and metabolic health.
  • The drug slowed the pace of biological aging by 9 %, as measured by the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock.
  • The drug significantly slowed biological processes associated with the risk of all‑cause mortality and age-related disease, as measured by the PCGrimAge epigenetic clock.

Research suggests there are several mechanisms by which semaglutide may influence biological aging. By reducing inflammation and metabolic stress, GLP-1 drugs decreased chronic immune activation, a primary driver of accelerated aging in people with HIV. They also reduce visceral and ectopic fat that accumulates around the abdomen and organs, which may help curb the inflammatory and metabolic signals that promote aging.

“Emerging data also suggest that GLP-1 drugs may reprogram certain cells in different organs, which could help explain why we see effects across multiple aging clocks,” said Corley.

While the study focused on people with HIV‑associated lipohypertrophy, Corley says it may also offer lessons for the wider population.

“Many of the biological processes we study in HIV are also central to aging in the general population,” he said. “Because these processes can emerge earlier or be more pronounced in people with HIV, this community can help us identify interventions that may improve healthspan more broadly.”

In a related pilot study published in npj Aging, Corley and another team of researchers found that taking semaglutide for 24 weeks:

  • Reduced the rate of biological aging for 42% of participants with HIV and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) as measured by the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock. Those participants also had a greater reduction in liver fat compared with participants whose pace of aging sped up.
  • Slowed aging associated with the risk of all‑cause mortality in 34% of participants as measured by the PCGrimAge epigenetic clock.
  • Increased the length of telomeres in nearly 49 % of participants as measured by the PCDNAmTL epigenetic clock. Those participants also tended to walk faster after treatment, suggesting better physical function.

Together, these studies add to growing evidence that GLP-1 drugs may influence pathways involved in biological aging.

“We are not saying that semaglutide reverses aging or makes people younger. What we are seeing is a signal that it may slow some of the biological processes associated with aging.”

— Michael Corley, PhD

“We are not saying that semaglutide reverses aging or makes people younger,” said Corley. “What we are seeing is a signal that it may slow some of the biological processes associated with aging. With newer GLP-1–based therapies now emerging, the field has an opportunity to test whether different drugs in this class have distinct effects on aging biology and to identify which patients may benefit most.”

Larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the findings, determine how long treatment effects last, and establish optimal dosing and treatment duration for both people with HIV and the broader population. Future studies will also be needed to test whether the effects of GLP-1 effects on aging biology are enhanced when combined with lifestyle interventions such as diet, exercise and sleep optimization.

The Stein Institute for Research on Aging plans to translate these results into individualized “aging dashboards” to track biological aging with epigenetic clocks, enabling clinicians to design personalised therapies that target the underlying mechanisms of aging and help prevent age‑related diseases.

By Susanne Clara Bard

Source: University of California San Diego

Categories : Mental Health Metabolic DisordersTags :

Can the Use of GLP-1RAs Reduce Behaviours Linked to Violent Crime?

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Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are widely prescribed for diabetes and obesity, but studies have found evidence that the medications may also influence behaviour, such as supporting impulse control and reducing substance use and alcohol consumption by potentially interacting with the brain’s reward and stress systems. New research in Criminology adds to this growing evidence.

When investigators analysed data from a 2025 nationally representative US survey involving 821 adults who had ever used GLP-1 medications, they found that while impulsivity and alcohol use were strongly associated with committing violent crime, these associations were significantly weaker among current GLP-1 RA users compared with former users. So even when a GLP-1 RA user drinks or acts impulsively, the situation is less likely to escalate into engaging in violent criminality. More thorough analyses showed that this finding was especially consistent related to impulsivity, but less so with alcohol use.

The findings suggest that GLP-1 RAs may lessen the extent to which certain established risk factors translate into violent behavior.

“As GLP-1 medications become increasingly widespread, understanding their broader behavioral effects becomes an important public health and criminological question that requires careful study,” said corresponding author Daniel C. Semenza, PhD, of Rutgers University.

Source: Wiley

Categories : Ethics and LawTags :

Trade Marks, Trust and the GLP-1 Surge

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The surge in demand for GLP-1 and GIP medicines—particularly those containing semaglutide and tirzepatide—has created significant commercial opportunity. It has also exposed a growing problem: the manufacture and sale of unregistered and potentially unlawful alternatives.

Recent enforcement action by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) highlights the scale of the issue, particularly in relation to products marketed for weight loss (see SAHPRA and the SAPC Crack Down on Unlawful Manufacturing of Unregistered GLP-1/ GIP Medicines). While this is often viewed as a regulatory concern, it raises equally important questions for trade mark law.

Trade marks are traditionally seen as tools for distinguishing one trader’s goods from another’s. In the pharmaceutical sector, however, they do far more. They signal quality, safety, efficacy and regulatory legitimacy.

When those signals are misused, the consequences extend beyond commercial harm—they can directly affect public health.

More Than Molecules: Reputation as the Real Asset

The success of products such as OZEMPIC®, Wegovy® and MOUNJARO® is not driven by their active ingredients alone.

Through years of clinical research, regulatory scrutiny and market presence, these brands have accumulated significant reputational capital. Consumers are not simply looking for semaglutide or tirzepatide—they are looking for certainty.

Consumers want products backed by known standards of safety, tested efficacy and regulatory oversight.

In this context, the goodwill attached to a pharmaceutical trade mark reflects far more than brand recognition. It represents confidence in the entire lifecycle of the product—from development and approval to manufacture and distribution.

Reputation Laundering: Trading on Trust Without Earning It

In the current GLP-1 market, misuse of reputation does not always take the form of direct counterfeiting or even traditional trade mark infringement.

More often, products are marketed as alternatives, equivalents or substitutes for well-known medicines. Advertising often references established brands to attract consumer attention and to confer an aura of legitimacy on products that may not have undergone the same level of regulatory scrutiny.

This is where a more subtle form of exploitation emerges.

Even without reproducing a trade mark, these practices appropriate the trust associated with it. The result is what can aptly be described as reputation laundering, being the transfer of credibility from a trusted product to one that has not independently earned it.

From a trade mark perspective, the damage goes far beyond lost sales. It weakens the link between the brand and the qualities consumers expect from it.

The Consequences for Consumer Trust

The risks become most apparent when products fail to meet expectations- or worse, raise safety concerns.

If a consumer experiences harm after using a product marketed with reference to a well-known brand, the reputational fallout rarely remains confined to the seller. It can spill over to the genuine product.

This is what makes pharmaceutical trade marks unique. The goodwill they embody is inseparable from consumer trust in the safety and reliability of medicines.

Once that trust is compromised, the consequences extend beyond individual brand owners. They can influence patient behaviour, clinical decision and confidence in an entire class of treatments.

The Growing Union Between Regulatory Enforcement and Trade Mark Protection

Historically, regulatory compliance and trade mark enforcement have been treated as distinct legal disciplines. Increasingly, however, the two are becoming interconnected.

Regulatory authorities seek to protect consumers from unsafe or unapproved products. Trade mark owners seek to protect the reputation and goodwill associated with their brands. In many cases, these objectives are aligned.

SAHPRA’s recent focus on unregistered GLP-1 products illustrates this convergence. Both regulators and trade mark proprietors share an interest in ensuring that consumers are not misled regarding the nature, origin or reliability of pharmaceutical products.

As pharmaceutical brands continue to acquire substantial reputational capital, the distinction between consumer protection and brand protection becomes increasingly difficult to draw.

It is clear that pharmaceutical trade marks are no longer simply badges of origin. They have become proxies for trust. As the current GLP-1 market demonstrates, protecting that trust is not only a commercial imperative- it is increasingly a matter of public health.

Categories : Metabolic Disorders Respiratory DiseasesTags :

New Study Links GLP-1 Agonists to Reduction of Asthma Exacerbations and Inhaler Use

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Photo by Cnordic Nordic

New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey (12-15 May) shows the use of the new GLP-1 class of obesity drugs in people with asthma is associated with a 26% fall in the number of asthma exacerbations and a 14% drop in use of asthma inhaler reliever use. The study is by Simon Høj and Dr Kjell Erik Julius Håkansson Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen Denmark and colleagues.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are now widely used to treat overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), with growing evidence of benefits that extend beyond blood sugar control.

In asthma, where overweight, obesity and metabolic dysfunction can lead to increased severity of symptoms and adverse events such as acute exacerbations, the authors suggest that GLP-1 RAs may improve asthma outcomes through weight loss, modulation of airway inflammation, and improvements in metabolic functions. Reductions in occurrence of asthma exacerbations are likely to reduce systemic corticosteroid exposure (a common treatment for acute asthma exacerbations orally or intravenously) and thus may reduce the risk of corticosteroid exposure-associated adverse events such as osteoporosis or new-onset T2DM. As such, as the clinical use of GLP-1 RAs expands, reliable estimates of their impact on asthma control are needed for individuals living with both asthma and overweight, obesity or T2DM.

The researchers conducted a nationwide self-controlled cohort study using linked Danish health registers. Adult individuals with a prior asthma diagnosis or ≥2 asthma inhaler prescriptions redeemed within 12 months) were included on the date of their first GLP-1 RA dispensing (index date). Eligible individuals had continuous registration data for at least 12 months before and after the index date.

Individuals with COPD or patients with severe asthma treated with new and relatively expensive biologic drugs within 12 months before or after the index date were excluded. Overweight or obesity was defined using ICD-10 codes for those conditions. Those who had no evidence of T2DM – with no diagnosis recorded or no evidence of other first line diabetes drugs prescribed – were also placed in the with obesity/overweight group. Those with a T2DM diagnosis or prescriptions recorded for first line diabetes drugs such as metformin were placed in the T2DM group.

The primary outcome was exacerbations, defined as an inpatient asthma hospital contact(s) and/or systemic oral or intravenous corticosteroid course(s). Secondary outcomes were the use of rescue medication (inhaled short-acting β2-agonists), inhaled corticosteroid exposure, and chest infection events defined as redemption of antibiotics commonly used for lower airway infections

The cohort comprised 27,523 individuals (mean age 54 years, 66% female) with asthma and comorbid overweight or obesity (49%) or T2DM (61%) and 26% recorded as having both conditions. Around 50% of the GLP-1 prescriptions were liraglutide, 48% semaglutide, and 2% others (exenatide, dulaglutide, lixisenatide).

Compared with the year before GLP-1 RA treatment, GLP-1 RA treatment was associated with a 26% lower exacerbation rate overall; and 28% lower in men compared with 23% lower in women. When stratified according to GLP1 RA treatment indication, the analysis showed individuals with asthma and comorbid overweight or obesity and individuals with asthma and comorbid T2DM had similar effect estimates – a 22% reduction in those with overweight or obesity and a 26% reduction in those with T2D.

Reliever medication use fell by 14% overall, suggesting fewer symptoms despite daily inhaled corticosteroid exposure also decreasing by 23% (inhaled corticosteroids are used to prevent exacerbations and treat symptoms in asthma). Furthermore, pneumonia events were reduced by 10%. People also living with allergic rhinitis saw similar decreases (23%) in exacerbations to those living without allergic rhinitis (28%). The authors are also working on updated analyses to show differences between men and women for these specific outcomes.

The authors conclude: “In this nationwide cohort of over 27,000 individuals with asthma and also overweight, obesity or type 2 diabetes, use of GLP-1 drugs  was associated with significant reductions in exacerbation burden as well as reliever use, exposure to inhaled corticosteroids and pneumonia events, irrespective of whether the drugs were being used to treat obesity or type 2 diabetes.”

The authors explain that their study did not have access to clinical records (just if people had used GLP-1 and hospital admissions), so data on BMI and weight loss for participants were not available.

But Dr Håkansson says: “There’s a high chance that the weight loss is a major contributor to these results. A common symptom in both asthma and obesity is shortness of breath, and the presence of excess fatty tissue creates a pro-inflammatory state in the body in general. There’s also evidence from other studies suggesting that the inflammation caused by excess adipose tissue is distinct from the ‘classic’ asthma inflammation which often is driven by allergies or cells called eosinophils.”

And he adds: “As the use of GLP-1 therapies increase, researchers are finding an increasing number of effects outside of weight loss.”

Source: EurekAlert!