Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are making headlines. Here’s what I’m reading to stay up to date as a health journalist.

Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound: Blockbuster weight-loss drugs have arguably been the biggest health concern of recent years, and there’s no sign their popularity is slowing down anytime soon. Millions of Americans Patients have been taking these drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists. Their potential benefits, far beyond treating obesity and diabetes, continue to grow as research advances. But concerns about everything from cost to rare but potentially deadly risks also grow.

As a health journalist, I do my best to stay up-to-date on all things weight loss medication, but with headlines coming in every day, it’s not easy! If you’re trying to stay on top of the latest, consider this your quick reference guide. Here’s what I’m reading about Ozempic and more.

1. We know more about how these drugs work

What really fascinates me about these drugs is what they tell us about the interconnectedness of our brain, our metabolism, and our heart health. Speaking of which, in August, a clinical trial Researchers have shown that GLP-1 drugs don’t just prolong feelings of fullness, they actually increase metabolism. This is huge, because it means the drugs don’t just facilitate weight loss, but they change the way the body processes food. [Newsweek]

2. The drugs appear to have beneficial effects beyond weight loss

Not only does tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound) help control blood sugar and increase insulin production by the pancreas in people with diabetes, it also reduces the risk of developing the chronic disease in the first place – by 94%, according to New search on Eli Lilly’s drugs. This is great news, but not terribly surprising given that the drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration specifically to combat diabetes and obesity. What is surprising is how many other benefits these drugs appear to provide. People who take Wegovy are 33% lower risk of dying from COVID-19a study found. In fact, people taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs were less likely than others to die from all sorts of causes, including cardiovascular disease. Semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) “has far-reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined,” Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale School of Medicine, told the 2024 European Society of Cardiology Congress. Could these drugs keep people healthier and younger for longer? Researchers seem to think so. “It wouldn’t surprise me if improving people’s health in this way actually slowed down the aging process,” Krumholz said. [BBC]

3. But they are not without potential risks

Amid all this promising research, one alarming story also caught my attention: a woman claims that taking Wegovy and Ozempic caused part of her colon to “die.” Juanita Gantt had her colon removed, now wears an ileostomy bag, and is suing the drug manufacturer, Novo Nordisk. We can’t say for sure whether the drug caused her death…