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Weighing the Good and Bad of Weight-Loss Drugs

Weighing the Good and Bad of Weight-Loss Drugs

60-Second Science vor 9 Monaten

Behind the hype of GLP-1 medications lies complex science, serious side effects and a pharmaceutical arms race.

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Drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists,
colloquially called GLP-1 medications, have gone from relatively
obscure diabetes treatments to blockbuster weight-loss medications.
But is the hype backed up by science? In this episode, freelance
science journalist Bethany Brookshire joins host Kendra
Pierre-Louis to talk about how these drugs mimic natural hormones,
why they’re so effective and what the latest research about their
broader health effects says. Plus, we discuss what a recently
rolled-out GLP-1 pill, the first of its kind approved for obesity,
could mean for the future of weight loss. Recommended Reading:
Wegovy Weight-Loss Pills Are Now Available in the U.S.—Here’s What
That Means“Doctors Are Worried about Prescribing GLP-1s to Certain
Patients,” by Bethany Brookshire, in National Geographic. Published
online November 20, 2025 “The Unexpected Ways Ozempic-like Drugs
Might Fight Dementia,” by Bethany Brookshire, in National
Geographic. Published online June 17, 2025 “Is There Really
an Ozempic Baby Boom? The Unexpected Ways GLP-1s Could Influence
Fertility,” by Bethany Brookshire, in National Geographic.
Published online November 4, 2025 E-mail us at
sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday:
subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily
newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis,
Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was
edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and
Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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