The GLP-1 drugs
A diabetes medicine turns out to treat obesity, and reshapes medicine and food alike.
- When
- Known to
- ± 15 days
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Semaglutide was approved for weight loss as Wegovy in June 2021, and a trial published in August 2023 showed it cut heart attacks and strokes by 20% in people without diabetes. Demand outran supply for years. The drugs have since shown benefit in kidney disease, sleep apnoea and addiction, and have moved obesity from a matter of willpower to a treatable condition of appetite regulation.