Diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management all influence outcomes
Depending on the medication and the patient population, research and approvals have supported benefits in areas like: Cardiovascular risk reduction in adults with established cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity (for specific products) Kidney protection in people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (semaglutide showed benefit in a large kidney outcomes trial) Obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity (tirzepatide has an FDA-approved indication for moderate to severe OSA in this population) Fatty liver disease and MASH (semaglutide has shown promising results in phase 3 research) Addiction to opioids and alcohol This is why these medications are now part of bigger medical conversations: heart, kidney, liver, sleep health and substance abuse
With both drugs, however, there is a catch
Men who achieve significant weight loss often experience improvements in testosterone levels and sperm parameters
Advise discontinuation of GLP-1 RAs prior to conception in accordance with pharmacokinetic half-life
The way Id summarize all of this is that our findings are best thought of as signals worth investigating further, not conclusions