Study: dangerous side effect of popular drugs for obesity and diabetes

Injectable drugs for weight loss and diabetes cause stomach paralysis – during the study, scientists discovered this rare but extremely dangerous side effect.

About a drug called GLP-1 that can cause stomach paralysis or gastroparesis, tells CNN publication. The researchers conducted three studies based on large amounts of patient data, but the results have not yet been published in medical journals.

GLP-1 injections are in high demand – they are very effective for weight loss by stimulating the release of insulin, curbing hunger and slowing the passage of food through the stomach.

But some patients reported bouts of vomiting while taking these drugs, and doctors diagnosed them with a stoppage of the stomach – gastroparesis*. The developers of the drug claim that with further use of the drug, stomach function improves, but patients, however, note the opposite. Even after several months, their condition did not improve.

The researchers found that people who took medications with GLP-1 antagonists had about a 50% higher risk of being diagnosed with gastroparesis than those who did not take it. Scientists from University Hospitals Cleveland analyzed a database of patient medical records from 80 healthcare organizations. They focused on obese people who had a body mass index greater than 30. They had no diagnoses of diabetes, gastroparesis, or pancreatitis in the 6 months before starting GLP-1 treatment. Based on these criteria, 286 thousand patients were identified.

Diabetes itself can increase the risk of gastroparesis if a person's blood sugar levels are not properly controlled over a long period of time. Among people prescribed GLP-1 antagonist medications for weight loss, such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy brands), exenatide (Byetta), and liraglutide (Victoza), gastroparesis was diagnosed after at least 6 months. This trend was noticed in 10 out of every 10 thousand patients (0.1%). By comparison, 0.04% of patients not taking GLP-1 medications were also diagnosed with gastric paralysis. Therefore, the risk of gastroparesis when taking weight loss drugs is 52%.

In the second study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 300,000 patients who were prescribed GLP-1 drugs to treat diabetes or obesity between December 2021 and November 2022. Their data was compared with people who had the same diagnosis but were given a different treatment. This analysis found that the risk of developing gastric paralysis was 66% higher than in people not taking GLP-1 drugs. Dr. Prateek Sharma, professor of medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, says:

“All side effects or gastrointestinal symptoms—nausea, vomiting, and gastroparesis—were significantly higher in those taking GLP-1 compared to the control group.”

Scientists believe, the publication writes, that gastroparesis occurs in approximately 1 person out of 200 patients taking GLP-1. They speculate that the drug's developers rejected this side effect because the rate of detection of gastric paralysis was too low.

*Gastroparesis results in delayed emptying of food from the stomach. When the stomach muscles are paralyzed, food is not fully absorbed and is retained in the intestines. The primary symptoms of gastroparesis are nausea and vomiting.

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