For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Kendra Peer-Lewis in for Rachel Feldman.
Over the past few years,
GLP-1 drugs have gone from relatively obscure diabetes medications to household names for weight loss.
The trend really took off in 2021 when the FDA approved some aglitide for weight loss sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wigovi.
If you're not taking one, someone in your life likely is.
That includes celebrities such as Megan Treanor and Serena Williams,
who say they've used GLP-1 injectables.
With the rising popularity of these medications,
drug makers are busy creating newer and more potent formulations.
This week, the first GLP-1 weight loss pill became available in the U.S., an oral version of Ugovi.
And growing research suggests GLP-1s might have uses beyond diabetes and weight loss too.
But how do these drugs actually work?
And do they really stand up to the hype?
To get a better understanding of the GLP-1 landscape,
we reached out to Bethany Prickshire,
a freelance journalist who has extensively covered these medications.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
Thank you for having me.
I know that you've done a lot of work on GLP-1s,
and so can you tell us at a basic level what is a GLP-1 and then what is a GLP-1 drug?