New research suggests popular weight loss drugs may offer significant health benefits even for people who do not lose weight.
According to CNN, around 10 percent to 15 percent of people using GLP-1 medicines such as Wegovy and Zepbound do not experience substantial weight loss. However, emerging evidence shows the drugs may still improve overall health.
Clinical trials have found that GLP-1 medicines can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and improve outcomes in heart failure, even when weight loss does not occur. New findings also suggest benefits for liver health. Wegovy was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat a serious liver condition known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
“For the most part, I think the dogma is that this improvement is driven by weight loss,” said Dr. Daniel Drucker to CNN. “But we have seen hints in our lab that weight loss isn’t the whole story”, he added.
Drucker added that insurers should rethink how they assess the drugs’ effectiveness, suggesting they consider benefits “across a wide range of very serious diseases.”
“Insurance companies have historically required at least 5% weight loss after three to four months of treatment in order to continue covering GLP-1 treatment,” said Dr. Jody Dushay. “With new information about metabolic benefits separate from weight loss, this will definitely need to be reconsidered.”