A key question for those over 65 is whether such a popular diet pill also carries the risk of melting away much-needed muscle.
When a person loses weight, whether through medication, strict dieting, or bariatric surgery, it is almost inevitable that not all weight loss is achieved through fat loss. About a quarter is usually due to the loss of lean body mass such as muscle and bone, which is critical for metabolism and protection against injury as we age.
The same goes for the weight-loss effects of so-called GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. For younger people, muscle loss may not cause an immediate problem, but for people over 65, muscle loss is critical to maintaining strength and mobility. Muscle weakness is a risk factor for falls in the elderly and one of the leading causes of injury and death in this age group. according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As Medicare grapples with whether to cover drugs for people 65 and older, research focusing on this population could be key.
“While weight loss may have many important metabolic benefits, we need, especially in older adults, to consider muscle and its importance in older populations,” says John BatteseAssociate Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Loss of muscle mass and strength as we age is a natural phenomenon – but everyone has a threshold that causes problems.”
Experts say there’s not enough data so far to know how much of a problem this is for older adults who take GLP-1 drugs to lose weight.about 42% According to the CDC, obesity affects U.S. adults age 60 and older.In a clinical trial of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, researchers looked at 140 person group participants. During the 68-week trial, participants lost an average of about 15 pounds of muscle and 23 pounds of fat. However, the average age of participants in this group was 52 years.
Overall, Batsis said, few GLP-1 studies have looked at differences between older and younger adults, including differences in fat and muscle loss. More research on older adults is needed, he said.
Martin Havtorn Petersen, a spokesman for Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, said that while semaglutide reduced lean body mass, patients lost more fat. , which helps improve their overall body composition. He also said that “no safety signals related to muscle mass loss have been identified.”
Drug companies are already working on how next-generation weight-loss drugs can overcome this challenge. Take Eli Lilly and Company as an example, acquired In July, it acquired obesity drug startup Versanis Bio for up to $2 billion, further expanding the drugmaker’s influence in the weight loss market. Versanis’ experimental drug bimagrumab is designed to help people lose weight while maintaining muscle mass.
It will be studied in combination with Eli Lilly’s drug tezeparatide, which is expected to be approved by the end of the year to treat obesity. Ruth Gimeno, Eli Lilly’s vice president of diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research, said in a report that the combination “could be the next big step in innovative treatments for patients with cardiometabolic diseases such as obesity.” step”. statement last month.
For older adults who may be taking weight loss medications, increased protein intake, resistance exercise and other measures may help mitigate lean muscle loss, Bartsis said.
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