Obesity rates have been increasing in the US for decades, but in 2023 they fell – at least in part because of the burgeoning popularity of the “miracle drug” semaglutide. Approved for treating obesity only in 2021, it is in short supply and is very expensive, but it has already had an extraordinary impact (“How semaglutide and similar drugs work”, below).
Yet this could just be start. With many companies racing to market rival versions of semaglutide in cheaper and easier-to-take forms, as well as mounting evidence that that GLP-1 drugs can target a host of health conditions, the treatments could have an impact that goes way beyond reversing the worldwide trend of rising obesity and possibly even putting a dent in alcohol sales. So what lies ahead for these drugs – and what are the stumbling blocks?
This article is part of a special series investigating the GLP-1 agonist boom. Read more here.
A growing number of studies show that semaglutide seems to have many beneficial effects in addition to weight loss. For instance, in a four-year trial involving nearly 18,000 people, 6.5 per cent of those on semaglutide had a heart attack or stroke compared with 8 per cent of those receiving a placebo.
The treatment may even reduce many kinds of craving, not just those for food (see What do GLP-1 drugs really tell us about the brain’s reward system?). “There are anecdotal reports of people reducing their alcohol intake substantially on semaglutide,” says Helen Colhoun at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “I think that this is one of the exciting potential…
