Health
Ozempic and Wegovy could lead to muscle loss, experts say, but prevention is possible
Ozempic and Wegovy could help you shed unwanted pounds and keep obesity-related disease at bay — but you could lose some muscle in the process, some experts warn.
Rapid weight loss can result in a condition called sarcopenia, defined as “the gradual loss of muscle mass, strength and function,” according to Healthline — but there are steps you can take to reduce the risk while still maintaining a healthy weight.
Semaglutide medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy cause weight loss through a combination of mechanisms, including delayed gastric emptying and the GLP1 hormones that signal the stomach to feel full, noted Andrew Y. Sun, M.D., a board-certified urologist and chief medical advisor for Marius Pharmaceuticals in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas.
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“Both of these result in a caloric restriction that causes weight loss,” he told Fox News Digital.
When people shed pounds, it results in a combination of both fat loss and muscle loss.
“In the clinical studies for drugs in the GLP1 class, the data indicated that 40% to 50% of the weight loss comes from lean muscle mass instead of fat,” Sun said. “When you lose muscle mass, your resting metabolic rate, or the rate the body burns calories, also declines.”
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist and longevity expert, shared strategies for preserving muscle mass while taking weight-loss medications. “Our muscle is our resilience,” he said. (Dr. Brett Osborn)
While all patients are susceptible to the loss in muscle mass, women tend to lose more than men, noted Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist, longevity expert and bodybuilder.
“One of the primary factors has to do with circulating testosterone levels,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“Women have lower levels naturally and have lesser muscle mass at base level. In a caloric deficit, testosterone levels further decrease, and there is potential for significant muscle loss (sarcopenia). This similarly occurs in the aged population.”
‘More susceptible to falls’
The health effects of losing muscle can be more dangerous for certain patients than others, Sun noted.
“When you lose muscle or when you have insufficient amounts of muscle tissue, you are more susceptible to falls and fractures,” he warned.
Preventing muscle loss starts with heightened surveillance from both the patient and the physician, a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“It makes recovery from illness and injury more difficult and, in general, leads to frailty and a more sedentary lifestyle that can, in extreme cases, increase the likelihood of death.”
Older patients are particularly at risk, he said, but all adults start losing muscle mass as a natural part of the aging process.
“This begins as early as your 30s and 40s, picking up significantly as adults approach 65,” Sun said. “Some suggest that adults may lose up to 8% of muscle mass each decade.”
“When you lose muscle or when you have insufficient amounts of muscle tissue, you are more susceptible to falls and fractures.”
Then, “when you take a semaglutide drug like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, you’re significantly increasing this muscle loss — and that can be concerning if you’re an at-risk patient.”
Osborn emphasized the importance of muscle as a protector from disease.
“Our muscle is our resilience,” he said. “In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, muscle tissue serves as a protein depot from which antibodies form, allowing us to fend off pathogens.”
One way to stimulate appetite is through strength training, which also helps to temper muscle loss. “Muscle is critical to your health,” said one physician. (iStock)
Muscle also acts as a “glucose filter,” he noted, which helps to regulate blood sugar and reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
“The less muscle you have, the more susceptible you are to these diseases — so, muscle is critical to your health.”
‘Pay close attention’
People can take certain steps to counter the risk of semaglutide-related muscle loss, experts agree.
“It starts with heightened surveillance from both the patient and the physician,” Osborn told Fox News Digital.
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He recommends that physicians conduct regular body measurements of patients and adjust the medication dosage if benchmarks are not being met.
“Patients need to pay close attention to their waistlines and their muscle mass relative to their total body weight,” said Osborn. “A male’s body weight ideally should be comprised of 50% muscle and a female’s should be 45%.”
Achieving that ratio will help stave off age-related diseases such as coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s, the doctor said.
In some cases, doctors may prescribe hormone therapy to support an individual’s muscle mass. (Rory Doyle for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“It will also protect you from frailty and the associated lack of mobility that place you at a high fall risk, which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people over the age of 50,” he said.
It’s also critical that every patient attempts to meet their prescribed daily calories, Osborn said.
“The less muscle you have, the more susceptible you are to diseases — so, muscle is critical to your health.”
“In my clinic, we shoot for a caloric intake equal to one’s sedentary basal metabolic rate, or BMR,” he said. “We allow the medication to create a slight caloric deficit to assist in weight loss, but we do not recommend that patients starve themselves, as is often seen in the media.”
One way to stimulate appetite is through strength training, Osborn noted, which also helps to temper muscle loss.
Sun agreed that patients on semaglutide therapy should adopt strength and resistance training — combined with a high-protein diet — to offset the effects of muscle loss.
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In some cases, Osborn also prescribes hormone replacement therapy to support an individual’s muscle mass.
“Using this protocol, we can maintain muscle despite Ozempic usage while driving fat loss, which is a double bonus — and truly the best of both worlds,” he said.
“In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, muscle tissue serves as a protein depot from which antibodies form, allowing us to fend off pathogens,” a doctor said. (iStock)
Looking ahead, Sun said he hopes that the next generation of weight-loss drugs will be more focused on balanced body composition rather than fat loss.
“Until then, there are circumstances where muscle loss should prompt conversations between the physician and patient about lifestyle changes and concomitant use of other drugs like testosterone to maintain muscle mass,” he added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, requesting comment on the medication’s potential to increase muscle loss.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.
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Research continues to uncover new details on how fasting may help extend life.
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications investigated how intermittent fasting can boost longevity in small worms often used in aging research.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas compared worms that were fed normally to those that underwent a 24-hour fast in early adulthood and were then fed again, according to a press release.
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The scientists measured a variety of factors, including stored fat, gene activity related to fat metabolism and lifespan.
The results showed that the life-boosting benefit did not depend on the fasting itself but on the body’s behavior after eating again.
Experts say sustainability is key when choosing a long-term weight-loss strategy. (iStock)
Study lead Peter Douglas, associate professor of molecular biology and a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern, suggested that these discoveries “shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin – the re-feeding phase.”
“Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state,” he said.
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“Our findings bridge a gap between lipid metabolism and aging research,” he added. “By targeting aging, the single greatest risk factor for human disease, we move beyond treating isolated conditions toward a preventive model of medicine that enhances quality of life for all individuals.”
Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, called this a “high-quality” study that adds an “important nuance to how we think about fasting and longevity.”
Intermittent fasting typically involves limiting meals to an eight-hour daily window or fasting every other day. (iStock)
The benefits of the refeeding phase after fasting were “especially interesting,” Wright, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“The researchers showed that longevity was linked to the body’s ability to turn off fat breakdown after fasting, allowing cells to restore energy balance,” she reiterated.
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“From a scientific standpoint, that’s a meaningful shift because it suggests fasting is not just about burning fat, but about metabolic flexibility.”
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Fasting may support longevity through triggering metabolic switching, enhancing cellular repair and stress resistance and improving markers like insulin sensitivity, research shows.
Limitations and cautions
Although this study provides “important insight” on the power of refeeding, Wright noted that the findings should be approached with caution, as the study was done on worms and cannot always be translated to humans.
“Additionally, it explains how a process might work in a controlled lab condition rather than real-world eating behaviors,” she added as a limitation. “Finally, the study is short-term and doesn’t give us the long-term translation on lifespan outcomes.”
The review found intermittent fasting was barely more effective than doing nothing, according to the study authors. (iStock)
Wright cautioned that fasting is “not a magic solution for longevity, and how you eat overall matters more than when you eat.”
“I advise, first and foremost, to focus on diet quality, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and minimally processed foods,” she said.
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For those who are considering fasting, it’s better to stick with a moderate plan — like a 12- to 14-hour overnight fast — rather than going to extremes, Wright said. After fasting, she recommends focusing on well-balanced meals.
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Several groups of people should be cautioned against fasting, according to Wright, including those with diabetes who are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with a history of eating disorders and older adults at risk of malnutrition.
Anyone considering intermittent fasting should consult with a doctor before starting.
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More than three million people travel to undergo cosmetic surgery each year, statistics show — but the potential savings come at a cost.
Most people opting to pursue this so-called “medical tourism” are chasing budget-friendly price tags.
International surgeries, such as hair transplants in Turkey, can cost as little as $4,000 to $5,000 compared to $20,000 to $30,000 in the U.S., but often come with extreme risks, according to board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Sheila Nazarian of California.
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The doctor recently joined Lisa Brady on the “The FOX News Rundown” podcast to discuss the rising trend of medical tourism. One of the biggest risks, she said, is the lack of safety regulations in popular destinations like Mexico and Turkey.
As demand spikes in these medical tourism “mills,” there have been reports of non-medically trained staff performing procedures like hair transplants.
Most people opting to pursue “medical tourism” are chasing budget-friendly price tags. (iStock)
“I’ve heard that they [international clinics] are even recruiting people who maybe were taxi drivers and then putting them through their own training program … to become hair transplant technicians,” Nazarian said. “That’s how high the demand has become.”
In the U.S., medical school graduates are granted a “physician and surgeon” license, which means doctors — including pediatricians or OB-GYNs — can legally perform cosmetic surgeries, even if they didn’t receive specialized training for those procedures during residency, Nazarian noted.
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Instead of pinching pennies, the doctor recommended paying whatever amount is necessary to ensure quality treatment.
“People think of it as, you know, going to the mall. … It’s surgery, and surgery has risks,” she said. “You need to be with someone who not only can perform a beautiful surgery, but who can handle possible complications well.”
“You need to ask them: ‘What was your residency training in? And if you wanted to, would you be allowed to do this procedure in a hospital?’”
Aftercare is another critical factor in the success and safety of a cosmetic procedure, as the doctor emphasized that 20% of a surgical result depends on post-operative care.
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This can be difficult or even impossible to manage when a doctor is in a different time zone, she cautioned, or if the clinic disappears shortly after the procedure.
Nazarian also noted the importance of addressing the psychological component of plastic surgery, noting that no procedure will fix underlying unhappiness. The doctor said she uses screening questionnaires to ensure that patients are truly seeking self-improvement rather than a “cure” for deeper issues.
International surgeries, such as hair transplants in Turkey, can cost as little as $4,000 to $5,000 compared to $20,000 to $30,000 in the U.S., but often come with extreme risks. (iStock)
“If you’re not already generally very content with your life, a knife in my hand is not going to bring you there,” Nazarian said.
“The analogy I always give is you don’t want a paisley couch — you want a neutral couch and you can put paisley pillows on it,” she said, noting that a procedure should “make you look normal, God-given, athletic. And then you can change your clothes when the trends come and go.”
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Samuel Golpanian, M.D., a double board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, said he has also seen an increasing number of patients undergoing cosmetic procedures abroad, sometimes with “devastating consequences.”
“The key is being extremely careful before embarking on this journey.”
“I’ve seen a wide range of complications, including infections, poor wound healing, significant scarring and tissue necrosis (skin death),” he told Fox News Digital. “These complications often lead to prolonged pain, ongoing medical problems, and significant additional costs to repair the damage.”
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Golpanian said he’s treated patients who received unsafe or non-medical-grade injectable materials, which can lead to serious long-term health issues.
One surgeon said he’s treated patients who received unsafe or non-medical-grade injectable materials, which can lead to serious long-term health issues. (iStock)
“I’ve also seen damage to underlying structures, asymmetry and results that are extremely difficult — sometimes impossible — to correct.”
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“That said, I’ve also seen some good outcomes, so it’s not all bad,” he noted. “The key is being extremely careful before embarking on this journey.”
Quick tips for safe ‘medical tourism’
Fully vet the surgeon. “Most surgeons will provide information about their education and training, but it’s important not to accept these claims at face value,” Golpanian said. “Verify them directly by contacting the institutions where they trained.”
Ask for references from prior patients. Ideally, it’s best to get references from U.S.-based patients who can speak candidly about both their experience and their results, the surgeonsaid.
Think beyond the cost. Golpanian emphasized the adage “you get what you pay for.” “Cost should take a back seat to experience, training, judgment and proven results,” he advised.
Be cautious about relying on before-and-after photos. These can be selective or even enhanced, Golpanian warned.
Keep aftercare in focus. “Make sure the practice emphasizes comprehensive follow-up care and has a clear, realistic post-operative plan in place.”
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