Ozempic drugs also slim down the muscles, which is dangerous to cardiovascular health

Drugs from the GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Ozmpic and Wegova, effectively reduce body weight, but are associated with significant loss of muscle tissue. As a result, they do not improve cardiopulmonary efficiency, which is a key indicator of heart and cardiovascular health – warns scientists from the University of Virginia.

In their opinion, this may have negative consequences for physical fitness, metabolic health and life expectancy, which they informed in the journal Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. “

The authors of the study emphasized that a decrease in body weight caused by drugs from this group brings numerous health benefits, especially in people with obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart failure: it improves glucose control, brings short-term cardiovascular benefits and has a positive effect on survival. However, they point out that weight loss does not bring full health effects, if it does not involve an improvement in cardiopulmonary efficiency. Therefore, in their opinion, it is necessary during the treatment to include physical activity, a diet rich in protein and possible supplementation.

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– Some patients report that during therapy with these drugs they have the impression of losing muscle mass. And research confirms this – said one of the authors of the publication of prof. Zhenqi Liu.

Accurate analyzes have shown that GLP-1 receptor agonists, supporting fat loss, lead to a decrease in about 25-40 percent. lean body mass, of which almost half are muscles.

– This is a serious problem, because muscles, especially axial, are necessary to maintain attitude, physical fitness and general well -being. Loss of lean body mass can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality for various reasons and deteriorate the quality of life. We must be sure that people we prescribe these drugs will not be exposed to too low muscle mass – he added.

The research team managed by prof. Liu, looked at the long-term effects of GLP-1 drug therapy in terms of their impact on cardiopulmonary efficiency (CRF). Usually, in patients with an obesity disease, this parameter is low, which may result from insufficient muscle tissue or deterioration of its quality, e.g. as a result of hypertrophy.

– And it must be remembered that cardiopulmonary efficiency is a strong prognostic factor of mortality in many populations, also in people with obesity, diabetes and heart failure – said Dr. Siddhartha Angadi, co -author of the publication. His previous research conducted at 400,000 people have shown that CRF predicts the risk of death much better than the body weight itself or the BMI factor.

– The review of scientific literature shows that GLP-1 drugs improve some heart function indicators, but this does not translate into a significant improvement in VO2 Max (oxygen ceiling, i.e. the ability to absorb oxygen by the body) and cardiopulmonary efficiency- the scientist added. In his opinion, few, small studies suggesting that exercises can improve VO2 Max in people using these drugs, were not reliable, and their methodology left much to be desired.

The authors of the study pointed out that work is already underway on new drugs that could prevent muscle mass loss. – This is a dynamically developing research area and we hope that better solutions will appear soon. For now, however, it is important that patients using GLP -1 drugs discuss protective strategies with their doctors – said Liu.

He added that the American Diabetes Society recommends assessing the risk of malnutrition and low muscle mass before starting therapy and promoting proper consumption of protein and regular physical activity during treatment.

Katarzyna Czechowicz (PAP)

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