Essential
- Misgive drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy lead to a significant loss of muscle mass.
- In addition, they do not improve the cardio-respiratory form, essential to longevity.
- Physical exercise remains essential to preserve overall health.
They are talking a lot about them. Medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro revolutionized the management of obesity, promising rapid and significant weight loss, but a new study from the University of Virginia, in the United States, raises an essential question: do these treatments not sacrifice muscle health and physical form on the altar of slimming?
Lose weight, but at what price?
Published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolismresearch shows that the agonists of the GLP-1 receptor as semaglutide or shooting cause significant muscle mass loss. About 25 % to 40 % of the lost weight comes from the lean mass, a figure much higher than what is observed with natural aging. “Healthy adults generally lose 0.8 % of their muscle mass per year. But these drugs accelerate this process spectacularly”underline the authors in a press release.
Another surprising fact: despite their well-documented cardiovascular benefits, these treatments do not really improve the cardio-respiratory form. However, this capacity, which is based on the proper functioning of the heart, lungs and muscles during effort, is a major predictor of longevity. Several clinical trials show that participants do not have a significant gain in maximum oxygen consumption, a key indicator of “cardio”.
Physical exercise as a remedy
The cause is twofold: on the one hand, these drugs strongly cut the appetite, resulting in a caloric restriction that pushes the body to draw on the muscles. On the other hand, the side effects (fatigue, digestive disorders) reduce physical activity, which limits the stimuli necessary for the maintenance of muscle mass.
Fortunately, there is an effective and easy to access lever: physical activity. The trials combining GLP-1 treatments and structured exercise programs (cardio + bodybuilding) show that patients better preserve their muscle mass and improve their cardiorepiratory capacity. “Concomitant physical training could compensate for the reduction in cardio-respiratory capacity”concludes the study.