GLP-1 receptor agonists and obesity care
BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2732 (Published 13 December 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2732
- Juan V A Franco, unit lead1,
- Jen Manne-Goehler, assistant professor2
- 1Cochrane Evidence Synthesis Unit Germany/UK—Düsseldorf Sub-Unit, Institute of General Practice, Centre for Health and Society, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
- 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Medical Practice Evaluation Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Correspondence to: J V A Franco juanfranco{at}bmj.com
More than a billion people worldwide are living with obesity. After many years of failed attempts to support them in losing weight and optimising their health through lifestyle intervention programmes, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are being heralded as a magic bullet for this global problem.1
Public discourse on these drugs has focused on their off-label use by celebrities, their exorbitant pricing, and severe supply shortages. But these issues are distractions from difficult questions about the long term implications of using these drugs in holistic obesity care systems, for both individual patients and for public health—namely, for whom, for what purpose, and how should these drugs be used when taking a lifecourse view of care for people with obesity?
In pivotal clinical trials of GLP-1 receptor agonists, cut-off points for body mass index (BMI) were ≥30, but a more nuanced health centric approach is needed. BMI is now widely recognised as an inaccurate tool for diagnosis of obesity …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £184 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£50 / $60/ €56 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.