Using supermarket purchase data, we found that individuals initiating GLP-1 RA treatment showed small but significant changes in their food purchases.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Kathrine Kold Sørensen, postdoc, PhD, cand.scient.san.publ Copenhagen University Hospital – Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen Department for Clinical and Translational Research Denmark
Kathrine Kold Sørensen, postdoc, PhD.
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: GLP-1 receptor agonists are widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity and are known to improve weight and metabolic outcomes. Beyond weight loss, however, the mechanisms underlying these benefits are not fully understood. Smaller studies and case reports have suggested that GLP-1 RAs may influence food preferences.
Patients without insurance coverage for GLP-1 drugs face unique challenges in staying on these treatments, so their inclusion in research on adherence is essential.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Patricia Rodriguez PhDMPH Principal Applied Scientist Truveta Research
Ty J. Gluckman, MD, MHA Center for Cardiovascular Analytics Research and Data Science (CARDS) Providence Heart Institute Providence Health System Portland, Oregon
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD Healthcare Transformation Institute Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Dr. Tricia Rodriguez PhD MPH
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: “Millions of Americans could benefit from GLP-1s, but clinical trials suggest that patients need to stay on these drugs to experience sustained benefits. We were interested in using data from patients across the country to understand whether patients are staying on these drugs, and what barriers may exist to continued use.
We looked at about 125,000 patients who started GLP-1 medications and found that a majority of patients stop taking them within one year. About 65% without type 2 diabetes (T2D) stopped within one year, compared with 47% of those with T2D.
Researchers found that four in 10 patients (40.7%) were persistent with their medication one year after their initial prescription’s fill. The proportion of patients who were persistent with semaglutide was 45.8% versus 35.6% in patients receiving liraglutide.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Hamlet Gasoyan, Ph.D. Lead author of the study and Researcher Center for Value-Based Care Research Cleveland Clinic
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response:Recently, injectable forms of GLP-1 RA medications such as semaglutide have been more commonly prescribed, in part related to their ability to demonstrate clinically significant weight reduction. However, outside of randomized trial settings, data on weight loss with semaglutide or liraglutide for obesity is generally limited to 6 months of follow-up, based on brand names approved by the FDA for type 2 diabetes only, or cohorts that exclude patients who did not persist with the medication.
Knowing that offsprings of parents with obesity are at a greater risk than other children for being overweight at adolescence, the question remains what are the epigenetic factors that affect obesity.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Gilad Twig, MD, MPH, PhD Head of the Population Health Research Center Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel. Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response:Heritability of obesity has been widely investigated, but when parental and children’s body weights are compared it is difficult to distinguish between genetic relationship and shared lifestyle. In this study we compared parents and their children’s body weights all measured at age 17.
Given the health benefits of clinically meaningful weight reduction at any level of excess weight, 5% or greater weight loss can be a reasonable target for obesity management efforts.
WeightControl.com Interview with:
Dr. Lyudmyla Kompaniyets, PhD Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Dr.Kompaniyets
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Overweight and obesity affect more than 70% of US adults and are risk factors for other chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many cancers. This is one of the only papers to assess the probability of a 5% weight loss or reducing BMI to healthy weight among US adults with overweight and obesity.
This study focused on the probability of weight loss in a healthcare seeking population with overweight or obesity regardless of any individual’s intention to lose weight.
Older individuals with a weight loss of 5-10% had a higher risk of all-cause mortality: 33% for men and 26% for women.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Dr Monira Hussain MBBS, MPH, PhD Senior Research Fellow & ECF Clinical Research Australian Fellow Public Health and Preventive Medicine Monash University Melbourne Australia
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The impact of weight changes on healthy older adults is not fully understood, and the association between weight loss and cause-specific mortality needs to be explored using more reliable methods.
