News

225 self-harm reports across three GLP-1 drugs, and what the comparison can and cannot show

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225 self-harm reports across three GLP-1 drugs, and what the comparison can and cannot show

Between January 2021 and December 2025, Europe’s pharmacovigilance database logged 42,941 adverse-event reports naming liraglutide, semaglutide or tirzepatide as a suspect drug in diabetes or weight management. Of those, 225 involved suicide or self-injury: 141 for semaglutide, 47 for tirzepatide, 37 for liraglutide. A new analysis sets the three against each other and finds such … Read more

Why GLP-1 weight loss varies so much: 32 trials, 40,408 people

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Why GLP-1 weight loss varies so much: 32 trials, 40,408 people

A meta-analysis of 32 randomised trials covering 40,408 people puts the average weight loss on GLP-1 and dual-agonist drugs at 9.36%. Most of the paper is about why that average hides so much. Trials enrolling people who also had type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea or fatty liver disease reported systematically smaller losses. Trials that … Read more

Tirzepatide and semaglutide carried the same asthma risk in 16,352 patients

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Peptide Review Desk news card: tirzepatide versus semaglutide in asthma

Among adults who have both asthma and type 2 diabetes, starting tirzepatide rather than semaglutide made no difference to the chance of an asthma attack over a year. A US multicentre analysis of 16,352 matched patients, published on 7 September 2026, found that 11.0% of the tirzepatide group and 11.1% of the semaglutide group had … Read more

GLP-1 drugs left bone alone but lean mass fell, a 60-study review finds

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Peptide Review Desk news card: GLP-1 drugs and musculoskeletal health

A meta-analysis of 60 studies and more than 1.25 million people, published in Drugs on 12 September 2026, gives the fullest picture yet of what GLP-1 drugs do to muscle, bone and joints. The bone finding is reassuring: no measurable effect on bone mineral density, and none on fractures. The muscle finding is the one … Read more

GLP-1 drugs took off another 9% after bariatric surgery, a 27-study review finds

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GLP-1 drugs took off another 9% after bariatric surgery, a 27-study review finds

Between a quarter and a third of people who have bariatric surgery regain a significant amount of weight within two to five years, according to the figures cited by the authors of a new review. Their meta-analysis, published in Frontiers in Endocrinology, pulls together what is known about treating that regain with a GLP-1 drug … Read more

378 trials ranked: incretin drugs top the list for preventing type 2 diabetes

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Network meta-analysis of 378 trials on preventing type 2 diabetes

A network meta-analysis of 378 randomised trials covering 113,122 adults with prediabetes has ranked what actually prevents type 2 diabetes, and incretin drugs finished first: dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists cut the risk of developing diabetes by around 90% against control, and single GLP-1 receptor agonists by around 74%. Metformin plus intensive lifestyle change came third. … Read more

80% of adolescents on GLP-1 drugs still had food in the stomach after 13 hours of fasting

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GLP-1 receptor agonists and preoperative fasting in adolescents

Eighty per cent of adolescents taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist still had solid food in the stomach when they arrived for a procedure, despite having fasted for a median of 13 hours, well beyond the eight hours standard guidelines ask for. Among healthy adolescents fasting under the same instruction, the figure was 5%. The study, … Read more