1 in 5 US Women Aged 50–64 Has Used GLP-1 RAs: What We’ve Learned

…and other items from this week’s health news:

How common are GLP-1 RA side effects?

First, a caveat: this is a US-only report, and it’s based on self-reports, so it may be subject to reporting bias (i.e. there undoubtedly are at least some people who pinky promise they haven’t used GLP-1 receptor agonists, but in fact are making use of their secret weapon).

However, taking it at face value: women aged 50–64 have the highest rate of GLP-1 use of any demographic group surveyed, with 1 in 5 reporting having used them, and indeed, GLP-1 prescriptions have more than tripled since 2020, with middle-aged women leading the adoption surge in recent years.

Amongst all users, the top-reported side effects were:

• nausea: by 52.0% (43.2% mild, 8.8% serious)
• diarrhea: by 34.3% (26.8% mild, 7.5% serious)
• vomiting: by 19.8% (14.4% mild, 5.4% serious)
• hollowed-out face: by 8.5% (7.4% mild, 1.1% serious)

These numbers are interesting, given that statistics also show that of those who use GLP-1 RA drugs, 54% quit within one year, with that number rising to 72% within two years.

Read in full: GLP-1 Agonist Use and Side Effects in the United States

Related: Most People Who Start GLP-1 RAs Quit Them Within A Year (Here’s Why) ← there are four main reasons people stop; side effects are number two on the list

Having the time of our life

Most people know that our circadian rhythm is part of what regulates when we get sleepy, but lesser-known regulators also help digestive organs maintain rhythms, especially under stress or disruption.

• The bad news: problems occur when irregular mealtimes, shift work, or jet lag trigger stress responses and contribute to diseases like fatty liver, IBD, diabetes, and more.
• The good news: we have back-ups, and even without the core clock genes being expressed correctly, many rhythmic genes stay on 24-hour cycles due to alternate regulators

In order to help our body to help us, therefore, eating or taking medicine at specific times (see our “related” below) can help a lot.

Read in full: Timing matters: How noncanonical clock regulators help digestive organs adapt to stress and disease

Related: The Other Circadian Rhythms

Gut health vs osteoporosis

Another thing that most people (or at least, women over a certain age) know, is that untreated menopause increases osteoporosis risk significantly. This is largely because estrogen and progesterone each play a role in bone turnover, and without them being at correct levels, it’s difficult for the body to replace bone in a timely fashion.

Now, researchers have discovered that part of the problem is that postmenopausal estrogen withdrawal increases gut permeability, which lets pro-inflammatory cells and molecules reach bone marrow, thus triggering bone loss.

Or, as the researchers put it:

❝gut-derived inflammation shifts the immune balance towards osteoclast-promoting cytokines like IL-17, TNF-α and RANKL, contributing to bone resorption❞

In terms of what this means in practice, they noted that women with postmenopausal osteoporosis have reduced gut microbial diversity, fewer SCFA-producing bacteria (e.g. Butyricicoccus, Fusicatenibacter), and more inflammatory pathobionts (e.g. Klebsiella, Escherichia).

There are three main remedies suggested; the first two we’ll quote directly as they were already presented neatly in the paper; the other we’ll paraphrase in brief below:

• supplementation with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium improves gut integrity, reduces inflammation, and suppresses osteoclast activity
• fecal microbiota transplantation from healthy donors restores gut barrier function, rebalances immune cells, and prevents bone loss

They also recommend a high-fiber diet, the better to feed gut microbes that produce short-chain fatty acids, which support gut barrier health, enhance calcium absorption, and help regulate immune and bone cells to do their respective jobs correctly.

Read in full: Gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids influence bone health in postmenopausal osteoporosis

Related: Valeric Acid & Bacterioides Vulgatus: Is Your Gut Leading You Into Osteoporosis?

Take care!