Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The approval of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide for weight regulation in January 2023 ushered in a new era of obesity therapy. In recent months, however, drug regulatory authorities have also documented rare, occasionally severe side effects associated with the use of these agents in diabetes therapy that doctors may not necessarily have been aware of.
"When millions of people are treated with medications like semaglutide, even relatively rare side effects occur in a large number of individuals," said Susan Yanovski, MD, codirector of the Office of Obesity Research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, in a JAMA news report.
Despite the low incidence of these adverse events and the likelihood that the benefits outweigh these risks in individuals with severe obesity, doctors and patients should be aware of these serious side effects, she added.
GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide or liraglutide mimic certain intestinal hormones. Almost all their characteristic side effects involve the gastrointestinal tract: nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. However, these are not the rare, severe side effects that are gaining increasing attention.
"When millions of people are treated with medications like semaglutide, even relatively rare side effects occur in a large number of individuals," said Susan Yanovski, MD, codirector of the Office of Obesity Research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, in a JAMA news report.
Despite the low incidence of these adverse events and the likelihood that the benefits outweigh these risks in individuals with severe obesity, doctors and patients should be aware of these serious side effects, she added.
GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide or liraglutide mimic certain intestinal hormones. Almost all their characteristic side effects involve the gastrointestinal tract: nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. However, these are not the rare, severe side effects that are gaining increasing attention.
What Is the Dark Side of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists?
Doctors who prescribe this class of medication should be aware of the rare side effects with which it is associated, said an obesity expert.
www.medscape.com