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Beware of possible loss of muscle mass due to weight loss medications

Researchers are concerned about the possible loss of muscle mass caused by trendy obesity drugs, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, which are better known by their brand names Ozempic and Mounjaro.

Carla Prado, a professor at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Integrative Nutrition, and other researchers have studied how rapid weight loss using these medications can change the physiology of a patient.

This month they published a commentary in The Lancet noting that these drugs raise concerns about their role in muscle loss.

Muscle accounts for up to 39% of total weight loss over a period of 36 to 72 weeks, they wrote.

Ozempic is one of the most well-known weight loss medications on the market. It was approved by Health Canada in 2018 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, before its weight loss benefits catapulted it to stardom.

It is part of a group of medicines classified as being able to control blood sugar levels and thus initiate weight loss. This group includes tirzepatide and retatrutide, the latter of which is not yet on the market.

When people lose weight, they always lose muscle. For example, if a person loses 22 pounds, that could represent between 5.5 and 8.8 pounds of muscle.

A quote from Carla Prado, member of the research team

Weakening of the immune system

There is also a risk of sarcopenic obesity, which is a combination of obesity and low skeletal muscle mass. This risk may be of concern when people temporarily stop taking these medications due to a lapse in insurance coverage or negative side effects.

Losing muscle weakens the immune system and can reduce the ability to recover from illness or injury. Muscles also help regulate blood sugar and amino acids. As we age, we naturally lose muscle, and early muscle loss could lead to difficulties in later life.

We don’t want to alarm anyone. What we want people to understand is that even with these medications, you can’t forget about nutrition and exercise.

A quote from Carla Prado, researcher

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Professor Carla Prado (centre) says the extent of muscle loss caused by GLP1-RA drugs is worrying.

Photo: Provided by Carla Prado

Tests on mice

Jason Dyckprofessor in the department of pediatrics and director of the cardiovascular research center at the University of Alberta, also conducts research on the effects of weight-loss drugs on muscle mass.

In October, he and other researchers published a paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on the effects of semaglutide drugs in mice.

We were struck by the extent of skeletal muscle loss observed in clinical trials with people using Ozempiche said.

In the study, obese mice were given Ozempic until they lost weight. The researchers found that the significant reduction in body weight due to the drugs led to a reduction in heart muscle.

By replicating the process with lean mice, they discovered the same problem with smaller hearts. Although this may seem alarming, the professor Jason Dyck points out that this is not necessarily a red flag:We see no obvious signs of cardiac damage.

His biggest concern is for people taking GLP-1 ARs for minor weight loss, who might see potential risks without benefit of the benefits these drugs have proven for patients with diabetes and other health problems. associated with overweight.

Professors Prado and Dyck now hope to work together to study the long-term effects of these drugs, to better support patients and ensure that skeletal and cardiac muscles are not victims of weight loss.

Based on information from Clare Bonnyman

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