{"id":695,"date":"2026-09-03T20:53:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.dzwonkinatelefon.net\/glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-effective-even-at-low-starter-doses\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T20:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:53:29","slug":"glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-effective-even-at-low-starter-doses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/?p=695","title":{"rendered":"GLP-1 weight loss drugs effective even at low starter doses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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People taking popular GLP-1 obesity drugs who remain on low starter \u200cdoses will lose some weight but may still experience side effects, although \u200bsignificantly less nausea than those who graduate to higher manufacturer-recommended doses, a new \u2060study suggests.<\/p>\n

And they are unlikely to experience the double-digit weight-loss percentages seen with the higher doses, the study found.<\/p>\n

\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIndia approves Novo Nordisk\u2019s weight loss drug Wegovy for fatty liver disease<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The GLP-1 drugs semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, sold under \u200cthe brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, are prescribed initially at a low dose followed by gradual titration to higher doses, to help the body adjust \u200cand minimize side effects.<\/p>\n

Many patients never achieve the recommended maintenance dose due to tolerability, \u200caccess, \u2060cost, supply or their individual goals.<\/p>\n

Researchers analyzed data on 534 patients who \u2060continued to take injectable semaglutide at the 0.25-milligram starter dose for at least six months, and the same number of patients who stayed on tirzepatide at the 2.5-mg starter dose for at least that long.<\/p>\n

\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCentre intensifies regulatory surveillance over GLP-1 weight loss drugs<\/div>\n
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At one year, the \u200bpercentage of body weight lost on \u200cthese lowest approved doses averaged 5.5% with tirzepatide and 2.2% with semaglutide, researchers reported on Monday in Biology Methods & Protocols.<\/p>\n

By comparison, the average weight loss at one year on recommended higher doses was 20.2% with tirzepatide and 13.7% with semaglutide in an earlier head-to-head trial.<\/p>\n

The \u200cfinding that patients who never escalated past the initiation dose still lost some \u200bweight suggests the drugs have a measurable pharmacologic effect well below the maintenance doses that clinical trials have been built around, said study leader Venky \u2060Soundararajan of data analytics firm nference.<\/p>\n

Semaglutide is currently considered better for kidneys because it has received U.S. approval to reduce the risk of worsening chronic renal disease. Tirzepatide is not yet \u200capproved specifically for kidney protection.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBeyond weight loss: how GLP-1s can affect your skin, hair and nails <\/div>\n
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Even at the lower doses, kidney outcomes were better with semaglutide, Soundararajan noted.<\/p>\n

Low-dose tirzepatide was associated with higher rates of kidney injury after two years in 2.7% of patients versus 0.4% with semaglutide.<\/p>\n

The Lilly drug also was associated with more constipation (32.6% vs 22.4%), muscle cramps (8.3% vs 4%), lumbar disc disease (3.3% vs 0.3%), shortness of breath on exertion (9.6% vs 6.8%), and other adverse events.<\/p>\n

Patients on sustained low-dose semaglutide had higher rates of ear inflammation (5.6% \u200cvs 2.1% with tirzepatide), heavy sweating (5.5% vs 3.2%) and ankle swelling (6.9% vs 3.7%).<\/p>\n

Patients who remained on the \u200bstarter doses did have substantially less nausea and constipation than has been
\nreported for patients taking higher doses, the study found.<\/p>\n

Observational studies such as this \u2060one cannot prove cause and effect, Soundararajan noted.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWHO backs use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, along with diet, exercise<\/div>\n
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Novo Nordisk recently launched a clinical trial to evaluate lower \u2060maintenance doses of its Wegovy pill, but results are years away.<\/p>\n

“In the meantime, with real-world patients taking lower-than-recommended doses, there’s a need for awareness,\u201d Soundararajan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two \u200cmedicines are not equivalent,\u201d he continued. \u201cPatients who are not aiming for 20% or 30% weight loss need to know there’s a chance they can lose a little \u200bweight on these low doses, and they deserve to know the picture around the adverse event profile.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The GLP-1 drugs semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, sold under \u200cthe brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, are prescribed initially at a low dose followed by gradual titration to higher doses, to help the body adjust \u200cand minimize side effects<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}