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How do GLP-1s Boost Weight Loss, Heart Health?

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 2, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Jan. 2, 2024 -- Weight loss tops many folks’ list of New Years resolutions, and lots of people are turning to cutting-edge weight-loss drugs like Ozempic to help them drop excess pounds.

These drugs, called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), work in several different ways to help people lose weight, gain control over their blood sugar levels, and improve their heart health, a new study published in the journal Cureus says.

GLP-1 drugs mimic a hormone secreted by the small intestine when people eat food.

The drugs initially were approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes because they help lower blood sugar levels.

But subsequent studies found that GLP-1 drugs also help people lose weight.

The new study noted the different means by which GLP-1 drugs act upon the body. Specifically, these drugs:

• Increase insulin production, which lowers blood sugar

• Delay digestion in the stomach, reducing hunger levels

• Send signals to the brain indicating that a person has eaten enough and feels full

• Promote the breakdown of cholesterol in the bloodstream, reducing a person’s heart risk

• Lower blood pressure by inhibiting inflammation in the blood vessels

• Reduce blood sugar production in the liver, protecting the organ from potential scarring

“All these emerging benefits have made GLP-1 RAs an important pharmacological drug,” concluded the research team led by senior researcher Dr. Zahra Nazir with the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan.

These emerging benefits have been discovered as a result of dozens of clinical trials and studies that have been conducted since the drug class was first discovered in the 1980s, researchers said.

For example, prior studies found that GLP-1 drugs:

• Helped up to 23% more patients meet blood sugar control goals compared with those taking insulin

• Caused people with obesity to lose nearly 14% of their body weight after a year, with some losing up to 20%.

• Prompted a 14% lower risk of heart health emergencies like heart attack or stroke, and an 11% decrease in hospital admissions for heart failure.

“GLP-1 RAs’ distinct and unique mechanism of enhancing insulin release in response to glucose, increasing satiety, and slowing gastric emptying can be attributed to the previously mentioned benefits of weight management and glycemic control,” researchers wrote.

“Heart health benefits are even of interest; trials show that GLP-1 RAs decrease inflammatory markers, improve endothelial function, and decrease arterial stiffness,” they concluded.

Ongoing studies are looking into whether GLP-1 drugs might also help patients with arthritis, headache, irritable bowel syndrome and neuropathic pain, researchers noted.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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