{"id":2920,"date":"2026-02-28T15:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/whats-next-for-glp-1s\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:34:25","slug":"whats-next-for-glp-1s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/whats-next-for-glp-1s\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s next for GLP-1s?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhat\u2019s next for GLP-1s?\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n

\n\t\tJacob Sweet\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/address>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\t\t

\t\t
\n\t\t\t8 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\tScientists eye new treatment targets for popular weight-loss drugs, from heart failure to addiction\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
\n

Now that GLP-1 drugs have revolutionized how millions of Americans treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, scientists are exploring the benefits of using the drugs for a host of other chronic diseases \u2014 many with few treatment options \u2014 such as heart failure, chronic liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and even substance use disorders.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir role is now being understood to be much, much more fundamental to human health, and to promoting longevity and preventing chronic illness progression,\u201d said Muthiah Vaduganathan<\/a>, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and faculty at Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n

GLP-1 receptor agonists \u2014 sold under brand names like Ozempic and Mounjaro \u2014 were initially developed to treat diabetes. But instead of addressing biomarkers linked to certain disease outcomes, these drugs influence the central cardio-kidney metabolic process, Vaduganathan said. This overarching approach has made GLP-1 drugs the most effective and tolerable choice for most patients treating diabetes and obesity. It\u2019s also what makes it likely that they influence a number of closely related diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcess weight and adiposity and obesity are the fundamental drivers of why these conditions are not only occurring but also progressing over time,\u201d said Vaduganathan. \u201cAnd so that reframing has allowed us now to rapidly target those fundamental drivers of adiposity with really effective and safe therapies like GLP-1 receptor agonists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s something you don\u2019t see for every drug\u2019<\/h4>\n

Nils Kr\u00fcger<\/a>, an instructor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, has investigated a wide range of positive effects for GLP-1 drugs in clinical practice. In a recent study<\/a>, he and his team found that GLP-1s were highly effective for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, in which the heart\u2019s muscle becomes so stiff that the ventricle holds less blood than usual; the GLP-1s showed a 40 percent relative risk reduction compared to older diabetes medication. \u201cThat\u2019s something you don\u2019t see for every drug,\u201d Kr\u00fcger said.<\/p>\n

Like Vaduganathan, he believes it\u2019s largely because GLP-1 drugs lower excess fat in the body, which drives the disease. \u201cIt\u2019s just astonishing how many indications those medications seem to be effective for or have some beneficial effects,\u201d Kr\u00fcger said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWhat was surprising and amazing was they were found to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events like cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josephine Li<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Josephine Li<\/a>, the clinical director of the Diabetes Center at MGH and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, also finds GLP-1s more broadly effective than previous generations of diabetes drugs. \u201cThere were older diabetes medications where there were issues with increased risk of heart failure,\u201d Li said. With GLP-1 drugs, \u201cWhat was surprising and amazing was they were found to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events like cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke. And this has been shown over and over with different GLP-1s within the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Revolutionary for patients\u2019<\/h4>\n

These combined benefits have changed the way Vaduganathan and Li practice medicine. \u201cWhen I initially completed medical training, everyone in practice recognized the major role of obesity,\u201d said Vaduganathan, \u201cbut our tool kit was so limited in terms of effective options to actually address this issue.\u201d GLP-1 drugs have made treatment more palatable \u2014 and effective \u2014 for patients who might have otherwise elected for bariatric surgery.<\/p>\n

For Li, the options for treating diabetes just years ago were similarly narrow. \u201cIt was a couple of oral meds and then it\u2019s like, \u2018Too bad, you have to start insulin,\u2019\u201d she recalled. Now, there are far more options, with new oral GLP-1 drugs and oral incretin drugs that are being evaluated in clinical trials. \u201cIt really changes the treatment landscape,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be doing an injection multiple times a day. From a delivery perspective, that\u2019s been revolutionary for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors still run into issues prescribing GLP-1s. The FDA has approved them to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, but many conditions, including Type 1 diabetes, lack approval. Insurance companies sometimes reject claims for alternative uses of GLP-1 drugs, which are expensive, even for patients who are overweight or obese.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Josephine Li. <\/p>\n

Niles Singer\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Muthiah Vaduganathan. <\/p>\n

Veasey Conway\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Other demographic groups have been understudied in clinical trials so far, Li said, including pregnant women, children, and people who are suffering from advanced kidney disease or who are on dialysis. \u201cThese are people who are typically excluded from the trials, but they\u2019re patients we take care of,\u201d Li said, \u201cso it\u2019s just thinking about these subpopulations and whether the drugs can be safely used and how to modify how you use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these limitations, doctors said that these drugs have increased communication between healthcare professionals across specialties. \u201cBecause we are using these therapies together, individual clinicians may be prescribing them, but other clinicians may be adjusting them,\u201d said Vaduganathan. \u201cA positive effect of these therapies has actually been on the structure of healthcare delivery for complex conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cA positive effect of these therapies has actually been on the structure of healthcare delivery for complex conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muthiah Vaduganathan<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Li agreed. \u201cI find myself in my practice reaching out to someone\u2019s cardiologist, reaching out to someone\u2019s nephrologist, getting someone seen by a dietitian,\u201d she said. She also finds herself having a lot of conversations with other physicians, thinking through potential safety concerns and side effects of the medicines. Over the past few years, doctors have seen an increase in reports of pulmonary aspiration during procedures, for instance, because GLP-1 drugs slow digestion.<\/p>\n

Promise treating addiction<\/h4>\n

This communication spans specialties beyond what one might expect for GLP-1 drugs. Mary Shen<\/a>, a resident physician at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital who studies substance use disorders, said that studies have shown a growing relationship between GLP-1 drugs and addiction. \u201cIt started because, anecdotally, physicians were starting to see that their patients were reporting, \u2018Oh, I haven\u2019t smoked in a while,\u2019 and \u2018Oh, I haven\u2019t had alcohol in a while.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The results spurred case reports, which led to preclinical studies and mouse models \u2014 with often promising results. \u201cIn the past few years, there\u2019s been a huge increase in studies examining GLP-1s and substance use disorder,\u201d Shen said.<\/p>\n

In 2024, she said, researchers conducted a review of five clinical trials for GLP-1 drugs related to substance use disorder. That year, she and her mentor, Joji Suzuki, director of Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital\u2019s Division of Addiction Psychiatry, found that given the small number of studies, there was not yet enough data<\/a> to recommend GLP-1 agonist drugs across tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine use disorders. Kwadwo Owusu-Boaitey and Laura Holsen were co-authors of that study.<\/p>\n

A year later, Shen said, the landscape is changing. Although the use of GLP-1s has not been approved by the FDA to treat substance use disorders, there are more than 15 clinical trials in progress globally. The Suzuki lab is also running two clinical trials, one for opioid use disorder and one for alcohol use disorder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still exploring what formulations are most useful, what conditions they\u2019re most useful for, and which patients they\u2019re the most effective in,\u201d said Shen. \u201cBut it does look like there\u2019s some promising evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shen said the same mechanism that modulates pathways in the gut and the pancreas also affects the brain. \u201cWe see addiction is closely tied to the reward systems in the brain and now we know that GLP-1 receptors are also found in the same brain structures,\u201d said Shen. \u201cBy targeting this, it may help regulate some of the responses to these substances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers acknowledge that there is still much work to be done for these drugs to safely and effectively treat more people. But the result could fundamentally change the options for those struggling with addiction. Effective medications exist for opioid and alcohol use disorders, but a lot of patients struggle to follow through with treatment. Those suffering from opioid use disorder often must go in person every day to take methadone. Other addictions, like cannabis use disorder and cocaine use disorder, don\u2019t yet have FDA-approved treatment.<\/p>\n

It often takes years for new indications to be approved, with more time needed for certain groups. Li, whose research lies largely in pharmacogenetics \u2014 the study of how genes influence medication response \u2014 said it\u2019s important that new research shows how different people experience GLP-1s. She also said there are more questions to ask about the long-term use of these drugs. The weight and metabolic effects of GLP-1s seem to wane after people stop the medication, but doctors don\u2019t yet have much long-term data on these effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make sure that this is safe and accessible for patients, it really requires adequate funding to support these research endeavors,\u201d Shen said.<\/p>\n

Despite the hurdles to approval, researchers remain positive \u2014 and largely, so do patients. Vaduganathan said that patients often initiate conversations about GLP-1 prescriptions, which they\u2019ve rarely done for any other class of drugs, including other highly effective ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has actually improved shared decision-making,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause often we now have two invested parties that are united with shared goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health What\u2019s next for GLP-1s? Jacob Sweet Harvard Staff Writer February 18, 2026 8 min read Scientists eye new treatment targets for popular weight-loss drugs, from heart failure to addiction Now that GLP-1 drugs have revolutionized how millions of Americans treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, scientists are exploring the benefits of using the drugs …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":127,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staying-healthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}