Efforts to Produce Drugs to Slow or Reverse Sarcopenia Benefit from the Semaglutide Hype

This popular science article is a reminder that all too little in this world happens for entirely rational reasons. Drugs aimed at slowing or reversing the age-related loss of muscle mass leading to sarcopenia are presently under development by a number of companies, though none of the candidates discussed are producing effect sizes that look very favorable in comparison to the effects of resistance exercise. These efforts will likely benefit from the present manufactured hype that attends the use of antidiabetic GLP1 receptor agonists for weight loss, as one of the side-effects of this drug is modest loss of muscle mass. To the extent that this aids in the development of meaningful ways to treat sarcopenia, fair enough. But one is left with the lingering feeling that perhaps this is not the best way to make progress. Will these companies continue to work on age-related disease, or will they just get shunted into the non-aging-related hype of the day? The latter is not a small risk. Even as obesity treatments Ozempic and Mounjaro continue their surge in popularity, drug hunters are asking whether it is possible for people to lose weight on these glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists without losing muscle. Drug candidates originally designed to build, preserve or regenerate skeletal muscle for treating muscle atrophy in degenerative conditions or ageing are now being tested in combination with GLP-1 agonists used for obesity to spare lean muscle. One such bi...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs