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Weight-loss drug found to shrink muscle in mice, human cells

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236 points Eumenes | 4 comments | 20 Nov 24 23:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.869s | source
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kbos87 ◴[21 Nov 24 02:14 UTC] No.42200375[source]▶
There are a lot of people here citing loss of muscle mass as a side effect of GLP-1s, when the reality is that weight loss almost always comes with muscle loss.

For me, that hasn't even been the case. I'm down 40lbs on a relatively low dose of Semaglutide and my muscle mass has moderately increased over the last 6 months. The hysteria over this is totally unfounded.

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1. diath ◴[21 Nov 24 05:09 UTC] No.42201330[source]▶
You did not lose 40 pounds of fat while building lean muscle tissue unless you're BOTH relatively new to weightlifting and use PEDs, in which case, the "hysteria" is justified for an average person.
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2. cthalupa ◴[21 Nov 24 05:16 UTC] No.42201359[source]▶
Just the former is likely enough over a 6 month span, even without great genetics. That's only a 1.6lb/week loss. Noob gains can be huge.
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3. diath ◴[21 Nov 24 05:21 UTC] No.42201384[source]▶
A caloric deficit that allows a continuous weight loss of 1.6 lbs a week for 6 months is significant enough to completely wreck your hormonal profile and put you in constant catabolic state, I doubt you would be able to put on any noticeable amount of muscle mass even during your noob gains phase in that context.
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4. cthalupa ◴[21 Nov 24 05:29 UTC] No.42201422{3}[source]▶
I've seen it happen with people even prior to the GLP-1s - prior to an injury derailing my last attempt to lose weight, I lost 30lb at an even faster rate and had 3 DEXA scans showing consistent increases in LBM.

This conversation does make me wonder about whether or not it would make sense to make the option available for people to go on exogenous testosterone (and yes potentially even women) while on these to help prevent muscle loss.