Today, I was reflecting on GLP-1 agonist analogues (Glucagon-Like Peptide).
Doesn’t ring a bell? Sure it does! It’s that new class of drugs (like semaglutide – Wegovy – Ozempic) that create a prolonged feeling of satiety. These medications help people eat less, leading to weight loss.
Initially developed for diabetes management, these treatments are increasingly being promoted as obesity therapies. More importantly, they show promise in preventing diseases linked to obesity.
One might think that humanity has finally found a solution to a problem that never existed in nature. Nutritional energy abundance, after all, is a “modern” invention. Over the course of evolution, our bodies never needed to develop defense mechanisms against energy storage in fat.
But here’s the thing: I’m not quick to believe in “miracle” drugs and prefer to dig into potential side effects.
One potential “side effect,” a kind of unexpected “double impact” effect (a long-term secondary effect), is the decrease in both the quantity and quality of muscle mass during weight loss induced by these treatments. In fact, people naturally lose about 0.8% of muscle mass per year (8% per decade) between the ages of 40 and 70. With these drugs, muscle loss (as indicated by the reduction in lean body mass) accounts for 25 to 39% of the total weight lost! [1]
While losing fat may have its benefits, no good comes from muscle wasting.
So, if obesity is the epidemic of the century, potentially curable with these treatments, sarcopenia (the decline in muscle quantity and quality, particularly in older adults) might well become the epidemic of the next century.
