WEIGHT-loss medications such as Ozempic speed up people’s metabolisms, helping them to shed the pounds, a new Irish study suggests. A trial of 30 patients found that there is a strong relationship between the increase in metabolic activity – burning calories – caused by a once-daily treatment and the amount of weight lost . The 30 subjects had specialised imaging of the fat within their abdomen using a PET-CT scanner, with scans carried out before and after six months of treatment.
The research also found that people who had a low metabolic activity before they started treatment benefited the most from it. The ‘wonder drug’ has been hailed as a miracle breakthrough since arriving on the market as it has been found to suppress appetites, proving extremely popular with Hollywood celebrities . The findings, published in the Journal of the Obesity Society, show that there is a strong relationship between the increase in metabolic activity caused by once-daily treatment with GLP-1 and the amount of weight lost.
Professor Donal O’Shea, who led the study, said the research “challenges the main narrative that these treatments simply make you eat less, and that any action on energy burn is minimal”. He explained: “It always seemed oversimplistic to me that these new treatments were just making people eat less. “This study challenges the main narrative about these newer treatments, which is that they simply make you eat less, and that any action on energy burn is minimal.
“The strength of the association is surprising given the relatively small numbers studied and suggests this increase in metabolic activity is a significant contributor to how these drugs work. “Safe medical treatment for obesity is still in its infancy and we need to understand fully how the treatment works. “Understanding how these agents increase energy burn should be an important part of future research.
” Drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Monjaro are based on the hormone Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). They are commonly used to treat Type-2 diabetes , and have been modified to be used as a long-term weight-loss treatment. The study was co-authored by Professor Silke Ryan, SVUH, funded by the Health Research Board and supported by University College Dublin.
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