GLP-1s, Like Ozempic And Wegovy, May Increase Risk Of Osteoporosis And Gout
Ozempic, Wegovy, and other GLP-1 alternatives have risen in use and popularity throughout the world in recent years. Now, according to new research presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting, these medications could increase the risk of experiencing osteoporosis and gout.
Dr. John Horneff, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study, said that he initially started looking into this connection after treating some patients who were developing tendon tears after relatively minor injuries, according to NBC News.
This initial notice from Dr. Horneff led him, and other experts, to look into whether or not GLP-1s might impact bones or connective tissues.
“People are taking these medications, and obviously there’s a tremendous amount of upside. But with that, they start to decrease their intake of food and nutrients,” Dr. Horneff said.
Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones and makes them more prone to breaks or fractures. It’s also a common concern for any older adult who loses a significant amount of weight over a short period of time. Gout, on the other hand, is a painful form of arthritis that occurs when the body has too much uric acid.
Uric acid increases in the body from a diet highly concentrated in red meat and alcohol, as well as rapid weight loss being a factor. The study wrote how researchers analyzed five years of medical records from more than 146,000 adults with a diagnosis of both obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
The study also compared patients who took GLP-1 drugs and those who didn’t. Around 4% of GLP-1 users developed osteoporosis, compared to a little over 3% of nonusers, with an increased risk of about 30%.
Rates of gout were also slightly higher with 7.4% for GLP-1 users and 6.6% for nonusers with an increased risk of 12%.
“It’s not huge. But within that data that was put in there, you even saw nearly a doubling of the risk of having some sort of bone mineral density issue at five years,” Dr. Horneff said.
“Weight loss does cause bone loss,” said Dr. Clifford Rosen, a professor of medicine at Tufts University who was not involved in the research but has been studying the impact of GLP-1s on bone health.
“The question we’ve been studying is whether this is a normal compensation of the skeleton, it’s just reshaping itself, or whether this is truly a risk for losing bone that’s more rapid than what would be expected,” Rosen said.
On the opposite side, Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist, wondered if the increased risk of these conditions was due to rapid weight loss or other mechanisms within the drugs. She mentioned that some studies have shown musculoskeletal benefits with GLP-1 drugs, and she often sees actual improvements in joint pain from her patients taking the medication.
Dr. Horneff says that in general, more research needs to be done to make a true conclusion, but it’s definitely worth looking into.
“It’s the same idea as when we always hear about astronauts going up into space and they’re in a gravity-zero environment for too long,” Horneff said.
“There’s nothing forcing their bones to kind of hold their weight anymore. And a lot of those astronauts come back with low bone density. So the thought is, these patients, their skeleton was used to kind of maintaining one frame, and then all of a sudden, that’s being decreased.”
“For gout, rapid weight loss can lead to a temporary spike in uric acid increasing the risk of gout,” he said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
