Brand New Paper: Strategies for Minimizing Muscle Loss During Use of Weight Loss Drugs
With the increased use (and effectiveness) of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, an interdisciplinary group of researchers participated in a scientific roundtable to discuss the strategies for minimizing muscle loss while using a weight loss drug. The roundtable concluded with a paper published this week in the journal, Obesity Management.
The key takeaways from this important paper include:
Muscle mass loss while using weight loss drugs is an emerging concern; patients on GLP-1 drugs are losing 10% of their lean muscle tissue in 50-70 week trials; this represents a typical 20-year muscle loss in less than a year and a half.
Losses of muscle lead to reduced functional and metabolic health, weight cycling, compromised quality of life, and other adverse effects.
All patients on weight loss drugs should focus on intense resistance training and an increase in protein intake to preserve muscle mass and function and maximize the benefits of the weight loss drugs.
