A protein shake has been developed to fight the extreme muscle loss linked to massively standard slimming medicine.
Ozempic and Wegovy – the model names for semaglutide – had been first created to deal with diabetes, however have proved to be extremely efficient at combating weight problems, with sufferers on the best doses of the weekly injections shedding as much as a fifth of their physique weight.
However research recommend that roughly 1 / 4 of the weight loss is definitely from muscle, with specialists warning this may very well be harmful, particularly for older individuals, as it will possibly enhance the danger of falls.
Now medical agency Abbott has launched a line of high-protein, low-fat milkshakes within the US which can be designed to keep up muscle mass amongst individuals taking weight-loss medicine, and which specialists hope might quickly be accessible within the UK.
In accordance with Abbott, its Protality drinks, which price about £3 every, can be essential for semaglutide sufferers, whereas different corporations have additionally launched different merchandise to fight the lack of muscle.
Weight reduction medicine together with Ozempic, whereas efficient at combating weight problems, even have muscle waste unintended effects
Final 12 months Weight Watchers launched an app which offers vitamin tricks to individuals taking semaglutide – the agency now additionally arranges entry to personal clinicians who can prescribe it. Some firms are even growing medicines to take alongside the injections which might counteract muscle loss.
Professor Alex Miras, guide endocrinologist and lecturer at Imperial School London, says: ‘Each weight-loss approach results in some muscle discount however, till now, we haven’t had remedies wherever close to as highly effective as semaglutide.
‘We should discover methods to cease individuals dropping muscle, which might have harmful penalties.’
Semaglutide is a part of a category of medication generally known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, the primary of which had been developed virtually twenty years in the past to deal with kind 2 diabetes.
These medicine mimic the GLP-1 hormone within the intestine that helps with the discharge of insulin, which regulates blood sugar ranges. However scientists additionally discovered they suppressed urge for food, resulting in weight reduction.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak final 12 months hailed the medication and introduced a pilot scheme in England to permit GPs to offer the weekly injection to obese patients.
Nonetheless, specialists are involved concerning the quantity of muscle mass that sufferers seem to lose.
In a single current US research, contributors misplaced, on common, 15lb (7kg) of muscle in addition to 23lb (10kg) of fats throughout a 68-week trial. Trials of one other GLP-1 drug, tirzepatide, discovered that sufferers misplaced a couple of tenth of their muscle mass.
‘Weight reduction happens when the physique breaks down fats to provide power,’ says Prof Miras. ‘Through the course of, the physique will break down some muscle, and even bone, because it appears to be like to create power.’
Prof Miras provides that an excessive amount of muscle loss can have unfavorable well being results, notably for older individuals. ‘Dropping plenty of muscle might be dangerous in your cardiovascular well being because it makes train tougher,’ he says. ‘However having much less muscle at an older age makes you extra weak to falls. This could result in severe bone breaks.’
In December, actuality TV star Sharon Osbourne described semaglutide as ‘very harmful’ after dropping 42lb (19kg) in lower than a 12 months. The 71-year-old, who weighed 142lb (64kg) when she started taking the remedy, stated she ‘wanted to place weight again on’.
US agency Abbott consider that rising sufferers’ protein consumption might assist fight the worrying lack of muscle.
Research present {that a} high-protein weight loss plan can assist enhance muscle mass and, in accordance with Abbott, sufferers want to soak up 50 per cent extra throughout a weight reduction regime to keep up a wholesome physique.
Weight reduction drug Wegovy. Excessive-protein low-fat milkshakes have been developed to offset muscle loss
Final month the corporate launched its protein shake within the US, which comprises 30 grams of protein –about half the each day quantity that the NHS recommends.
However specialists say the effectiveness of the shake will rely upon the general weight loss plan of the affected person.
‘Folks on these medicine eat so little, it’s very tough to provide them the advisable quantity of protein,’ says Prof Miras. ‘In the event you’re barely consuming, then even ingesting three protein shakes in a day received’t complement all the opposite vitamins you want, corresponding to carbohydrates.’
There are different choices accessible to sufferers anxious about dropping muscle mass whereas taking a GLP-1 drug. The Weight Watchers app advises these on its plans to make sure they preserve muscle as they drop some pounds. It additionally encourages customers to train, which research recommend is one other vital consider avoiding muscle loss.
Later this 12 months, US agency Regeneron will start a scientific trial combining semaglutide with an antibody drug that blocks receptors that regulate muscle development, theoretically stopping the physique from breaking down muscle tissues throughout weight reduction.
One other US firm, Biohaven, desires to make use of a drug designed to deal with spinal muscular atrophy – a muscle-wasting illness which impacts youngsters – to fight muscle shrinkage in GLP-1 sufferers.
‘That is going to turn into an vital subject in medication within the coming years,’ says Prof Miras. ‘Increasingly sufferers will get GLP-1 medicine, so we want options to the unintended effects, whether or not that’s dietary dietary supplements or new medicines.’
