STAT+: Why doesn’t everyone lose weight on Ozempic-type drugs? Researchers look for genetic clues
Not everyone loses weight on Ozempic-type drugs. Researchers are looking for genetic clues to steer patients more accurately.
DALLAS — Treatments like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have been hailed for showing 15% to over 20% weight loss in trials, but those are just averages. In reality, there are big variations in how much weight people lose on the therapies, and it’s unclear what explains those differences.
One way researchers are trying to figure this out is by focusing on genes.
“The variability is so wide that we want to understand what predicts response,” said Lee Kaplan, chief of obesity medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Since genetics is a significant reason people develop obesity, and since early data also show that genetics may contribute to how people respond to bariatric surgery, “that would argue that there’s probably going to be a genetic contribution” to the amount of weight loss people experience on obesity drugs.
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