It is a semi -joking question that a doctor begins when a new type of drug begins to help a large mass of the population. Heart specialists have been used for quipes for spike water systems with cholesterol reduction statin because of their ability to prevent heart attack.
Now other people and other people “GLP-1” category It is approaching the critical mass. They are showing Promise to the list of diseases that are constantly expanded beyond today’s most common weight loss and diabetes treatment. Heart, kidney and liver disease. Sleep apnea. arthritis. Alzheimer’s bottle. Alcoholism. Even aging. Some of these are potential advantages that require further research.
Derek Lowe, a pharmaceutical researcher and a blogger, said, “We are wondering what GLP-1 agent is not good. science last year.
If this trajectory continues, doctors say that millions of people will benefit from them.
But they can also cause warnings about the use of drugs for those who do not fit the bill. The doctor should find a way to keep the excessive weight loss of those who do not. overweightAtlanta’s endocrine scholar, Scott Isaacs, probably put them in a special diet.
Drug -Wegovy, As and Zepbound-Natural hormone that occurs naturally like the GLP-1. This medicine helps to control the blood sugar levels of patients with type 2 diabetes by promoting insulin production. They suppress appetite and make people feel faster when eating, helping people lose a lot of pounds.
Only in diabetes and obesity, the qualified patient population is huge. More than 100 million American adults (40%) are obese. About 38 million people have diabetes.
Many of the proven benefits of the drug are the coordinates due to the impact on obesity. Losing weight loss relieves sleep apnea. It helps arthritis and helps arthritis.
Dr. Louis Aronne, head of the Weill Cornell Medicine, said, “If you treat obesity, you will get better complications that spend a lot of time in treating medicine.
However, some benefits seem to be irrelevant to weight loss. Anti -inflammatory effect Drugs.
“Science is very rapidly developing to understand how these drugs affect these drugs and inflammation,” said Robert Kushner, an expert at the University of North Western University Painberg Medical School.
Doctors say that GLP-1-type drugs can help psoriasis arthritis in immune state that causes joint pain. Skin rashDue to the potential to reduce inflammation due to weight loss.
Susan Abernethy of North Cobe, Washington, began to take Mounjaro’s diabetes drug in 2023, and began to help treat psoriasis arthritis after old treatment was not effective.
The 58 -year -old chief operating officer of a non -profit organization helps Mounjaro to lose weight and relieve joint pain. She takes it with the approved TALTZ to treat the dry arthritis. Her insurance has a type 2 diabetes, so he pays for the combination.
“After about four years I couldn’t work, I was able to do 5ks again,” she said. “I can walk longer on the beach than before.”
Lilly is studying the combination of the main components of TALTZ and MOUNJARO to treat dry arthritis, and hopes to seek regulatory approval for use when the study is successful.
Doctors are also successful in treating people with certain liver diseases. ISAACS prescribes GLP-1 to those in a fat state. Metabolic dysfunctional disorder observation treatmentMash is believed to bother about 15 million Americans.
According to a study published in the New England Journal Journal of Medicine in April, three major components of Ozempic and WEGOVY have improved the patient’s condition.
Another area to be considered: Alzheimer’s bottle. Researchers believe that GLP-1 can have neurotreal effects and slows down the loss of brain volume. Last year, a small study in the UK found that Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 LIRAGLUTIDE was slower than placebo. NOVO is conducting a three -phase test in the early Alzheimer’s patients.
About 137 million American adults, more than half of the adult population, can be treated with GLP-1 Drug Semi Gruide.,,, Researchers who suffered from type 2 diabetes or met the threshold of excessive weight or established cardiovascular disease and excessive weight were estimated in a paper published in Jama Cardiology last year. In comparison, about 880 million American adults can receive Starin.
But only a few of them are currently taking about 8.3 million GLP-1 drugs in the United States, TD COWEN estimates. The proportion of the eligible population taking GLP-1 other than the United States is much smaller.
TD Cowen analysts said, “Global absorption of weight loss drugs is smaller than the address market.”
Nevertheless, some people should not clearly take drugs. Aronne said, “I think everyone, but everyone can get some benefits.
People with thyroid cancer type troops or heads and neck tumors should not be taken because the drugs have caused this type of tumor in rats.
Some doctors are reluctant to prescribe to people with pancreatitis troops, because some patients taking this drug have a serious case of the state. And some doctors prevents them from prescribing them for weight loss of cosmetics when there is no other medical condition.
The use of the drug will surely grow. Morgan Stanley analysts estimate that by 2035, the number of Americans using GLP-1 only for obesity will increase to about 29 million. But even that indicates only 20%of the eligible obese population.
It is because anti -heavy drugs are expensive. The list price is more than $ 1,000 a month Insurance plans do not deal with them And even the price of the manufacturer is still hundreds of dollars a month.
The drugs and manufacturing capacity of the drug can also be a problem. Some patients stop taking drugs because they have unpleasant camouflage side effects. And two major manufacturers of Lilly and Novo have recently increased their production to solve the lack of drugs. But they are still unable to reach enough capacity to supply much more proportions in both the present and the future population.
More research and better drugs can help increase the treatment rate. The company is developing a new GLP-1 that can provide more weight loss and is developing a pill version that can appeal to patients who do not like shots.
Send a letter to Peter Loftus at Peter.loftus@wsj.com
