I am sure you’ve seen those commercials.  At least two different, competing drugs.  Each proclaiming how great they are for Type II diabetics, lowering their A1C, and… wait for it- helping them lose 7 to 12 pounds.

Well, that’s not a lie.  Or even an exaggeration.

While these drugs are not being prescribed to treat obesity, the most prevalent disease in the USA, an analogue may soon be.

These drugs are called GLP-1s (GLP-1 receptor agonists).  (Back some 20 years ago, we were thinking leptin [notifies the brain how much fat is stored by the body] and ghrelin [hunger stimulant] were the keys.  But now we know GLP-1, the gut and satiety hormone, is the better choice.)  These GLP-1s work by stimulating the production of glucagon-like peptide 1.  And, it affects the hindbrain and the hypothalamus (middle of the brain, which regulates body energy- including our eating. ) The action of this compound is why most  of us feel full after we eat something.

GLP-1, once present in the gut, stimulates the pancreas to release insulin (now you see why it’s useful for Type II diabetics), cutting down blood sugar levels.  Sounds great, right?   Probably would be if this hormone stuck around long enough.  But with a 90 second half-life, that’s not the case.

Which is why formulations of GLP-1s have been developed specifically  to help folks lose weight.  The problem is they range in price from $ 15 a month (generic) to $1400!  (Oh, yeah. These are weekly injectable drugs.)

Right now, even the best of these drugs only help folks lose about 15% of their body weight.  That’s a great start, but not what is really needed.  Consider the almost 6 foot person weighing 250 pounds.  That person’s  BMI is 34.9.  Should that person shed 15% body weight, the BMI drops to 29.6.  That’s still on the cusp of being labeled obese (30).

That’s why the rush is on to find a formulation that will match those results achieved by surgical options (bariatric surgery).  Folks who opt for that solution effect weight losses of about 30%.  (That would mean for our case, the BMI would have dropped to 24.4, well within the normal range.)

But, researchers have a real problem.  Yes, these drugs can help us stop eating- but it may be because we are really feeling full- or maybe because we feel nauseous or worse.  (Remember, when we test these drugs on mice, those little critters can’t tell us if they feel nauseous or full, we only know they stopped eating.)

There is a real need for adequate treatment.  Not only because obesity is rampant in America, but because obesity is a comorbidity- one of the two (or more) significant health issues that affect human health.  It’s linked to diabetes, cardiac disease, COVID-19 mortality… and with 3 of 4 Americans considered to be obese, this is a national calamity.

And, let’s be real.  Big Pharma may care if it’s a national calamity- but they really get interested if its big business.  Which our expenditures of some $ 70 billion a year to lose weight (gym memberships, premade diet meals and shakes, specialized phone apps) clearly inform them that we’re seriously looking for solutions.

Next Monday!  We can start filing our personal income taxes.  Have you read my book to help you find ways to pay the lowest amount of taxes required by law? 

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