Ozempic Could Be Much less Efficient for Emotional Eaters, Examine Suggests

GLP-1 agonists—so-called “wonder medicine” like Ozempic or Wegovy that assist people decrease blood sugar ranges and shed some pounds, amongst different issues—yield important outcomes for some sufferers, however not all. Individuals’s motivations to overeat might play a task on this, in keeping with a brand new examine.

To analyze why some individuals don’t profit from GLP-1 agonists as a lot as others, researchers noticed 92 individuals with sort 2 diabetes in Japan throughout their first 12 months of taking GLP-1 medicine. Their results, revealed at the moment in Frontiers in Medical Diabetes and Healthcare, recommend that individuals who overeat as a consequence of exterior causes—such because the sight or scent of scrumptious meals—had better probabilities of responding properly to the medicine in the long run than individuals who overeat for emotional causes.

Who will profit most from GLP-1 medicine?

“Pre-treatment evaluation of consuming conduct patterns might assist predict who will profit most from GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” Daisuke Yabe, senior creator of the examine and a professor of diabetes, endocrinology, and vitamin at Kyoto College, mentioned in a Frontiers assertion. “GLP-1 receptor agonists are efficient for people who expertise weight achieve or elevated blood glucose ranges as a consequence of overeating triggered by exterior stimuli. Nonetheless, their effectiveness is much less anticipated in circumstances the place emotional consuming is the first trigger.”

The workforce revealed this by gathering knowledge on the individuals’ physique weight and composition, weight loss program, and knowledge resembling blood glucose, levels of cholesterol, and relationship with meals in the beginning of the remedy, three months after, and one 12 months after. They targeted on emotional consuming (consuming in response to unfavorable feelings), exterior consuming (consuming as a result of the meals seems to be good), and restrained consuming (controlling one’s weight loss program to shed some pounds). Whereas it may appear contradictory, extreme restrained consuming can truly lead to disordered consuming, in keeping with the researchers.

Over the 12 months, the individuals skilled a statistically important lack of physique weight and lowered levels of cholesterol and physique fats share with out altering skeletal muscle mass. Whereas blood glucose ranges ameliorated, the development wasn’t statistically important. There have been, nevertheless, some variations relying on consuming behaviors. Three months after the beginning of the remedy, individuals reported extra restrained consuming and fewer exterior or emotional consuming. By the top of the 12 months, although, individuals had returned to their authentic restrained and emotional consuming habits.

“One potential clarification is that emotional consuming is extra strongly influenced by psychological elements which might not be straight addressed by GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” mentioned Takehiro Kato, second creator of the article and a researcher from Gifu College, “People with distinguished emotional consuming tendencies might require extra behavioral or psychological assist.”

Exterior consuming lessened over the 12 months of remedy

Individuals reported decreased exterior consuming all through all the 12 months, and people that claimed excessive ranges of exterior consuming in the beginning of the remedy noticed the best advantages in blood glucose ranges and weight reduction. However, the workforce didn’t determine any affiliation between emotional or restrained consuming scores in the beginning and drug advantages by the 12-month mark.

“Whereas our examine suggests a possible affiliation between exterior consuming conduct and remedy response to GLP-1 receptor agonists, these findings stay preliminary,” defined Yabe. What’s extra, the workforce’s examine was observational, and individuals self-reported info, that means the researchers revealed a possible affiliation, not a causation.

“Additional proof is critical earlier than they are often carried out in scientific observe. Ought to future large-scale or randomized managed trials validate this relationship, incorporating easy behavioral assessments might grow to be a worthwhile part in optimizing remedy methods,” Yabe concluded.