Recent studies have shown that pharmacological treatment with GLP-1-RA and dual GLP-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor agonists (GIP-RA) causes almost as much weight loss as gastric surgery. However, there are concerns that greater weight loss could have a negative impact on muscle mass , especially in more susceptible patients. Therefore, it is important to find out whether changes in the muscles from weight loss treatments such as GLP-1 RAs are negative for the muscles (maladaptive), a normal response to weight loss (adaptive), or even improve muscle health or function.
Andreas Birkenfeld, DZD spokesperson and Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) of Helmholtz Zentrum München at the University of Tübingen, describes it as follows: "The concept of adaptive muscle adjustment is known from the heart. With high blood pressure , the heart muscle has to pump harder and the heart muscle thickens, meaning that the heart mass increases. "If the blood pressure is lowered, e.
g. with medication, the heart muscle becomes thinner again and the mass decreases because it no longer has to exert as much force. This process is positive for the heart muscle and is characterized as adaptive.
It is also known that the muscle mass that a heavy person needs to support him- or herself decreases when the person loses weight and the muscle no longer has to carry the same weight. This process is also generally considered to be a.