A protein shake has been developed to fight the extreme muscle loss linked to vastly 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 counsel that roughly 1 / 4 of the weight loss is definitely from muscle, with consultants warning this may very well be harmful, particularly for older individuals, as it could actually enhance the danger of falls.
Now medical agency Abbott has launched a line of high-protein, low-fat milkshakes within the US which might be designed to take care of muscle mass amongst individuals taking weight-loss medicine, and which consultants hope may quickly be accessible within the UK.
In line with Abbott, its Protality drinks, which value about £3 every, can be essential for semaglutide sufferers, whereas different corporations have additionally launched different merchandise to fight the lack of muscle.
Weight-loss medicine together with Ozempic, whereas efficient at combating weight problems, even have muscle-wasting negative effects
Final 12 months Weight Watchers launched an app which offers diet tricks to individuals taking semaglutide – the agency now additionally arranges entry to personal clinicians who can prescribe it. Some corporations are even creating medicines to take alongside the injections which might counteract muscle loss.
Professor Alex Miras, marketing consultant endocrinologist and lecturer at Imperial School London, says: ‘Each weight-loss method results in some muscle discount however, till now, we have not had remedies anyplace 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 referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, the primary of which had been developed nearly 20 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.
Nevertheless, consultants are involved concerning the quantity of muscle mass that sufferers seem to lose.
In a single current US examine, 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 supply power,’ says Prof Miras. ‘Throughout the course of, the physique will break down some muscle, and even bone, because it seems to create power.’
Prof Miras provides that an excessive amount of muscle loss can have detrimental well being results, notably for older individuals. ‘Dropping numerous muscle could be dangerous on your cardiovascular well being because it makes train tougher,’ he says. ‘However having much less muscle at an older age makes you extra susceptible to falls. This could result in critical 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 therapy, stated she ‘wanted to place weight again on’.
US agency Abbott consider that growing sufferers’ protein consumption may assist fight the worrying lack of muscle.
Research present {that a} high-protein food 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 take care of a wholesome physique.
Weight-loss 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 day by day quantity that the NHS recommends.
However consultants say the effectiveness of the shake will rely upon the general food plan of the affected person.
‘Folks on these medicine eat so little, it’s extremely tough to provide them the beneficial quantity of protein,’ says Prof Miras. ‘Should you’re barely consuming, then even ingesting three protein shakes in a day will not complement all the opposite vitamins you want, equivalent 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 keep muscle as they drop pounds. It additionally encourages customers to train, which research counsel is one other vital think about avoiding muscle loss.
Later this 12 months, US agency Regeneron will start a medical trial combining semaglutide with an antibody drug that blocks receptors that regulate muscle progress, theoretically stopping the physique from breaking down muscle groups 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 kids – to fight muscle shrinkage in GLP-1 sufferers.
‘That is going to change into an vital subject in medication within the coming years,’ says Prof Miras. ‘Increasingly more sufferers will get GLP-1 medicine, so we want options to the negative effects, whether or not that is dietary dietary supplements or new medicines.’
