October 16, 2024 – It may not sound surprising that treating obesity in adolescents and teenagers can have positive mental health effects, but researchers this week reported reassuring findings about whether popular latest injectable weight reduction drugs pose risks to the mental health are associated.
Adolescents who took one in every of two medications from the GLP-1 class of medicine weren't at higher risk of suicidal thoughts or actions in comparison with their peers who were also attempting to shed pounds but weren't taking the drugs.
The studypublished this week in JAMA Pediatricsspecifically examined adolescents aged 12 to 18 who were taking either the drug semaglutide or the drug liraglutide for weight reduction. Both medications have different names depending on whether or not they are prescribed to treat diabetes or for weight reduction. Semaglutide is the energetic ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy and liraglutide is the energetic ingredient in Victoza and Saxenda.
The study is predicated on a review of the medical records of 4,052 adolescents with obesity who took semaglutide or liraglutide for weight reduction while making lifestyle changes. Researchers compared their likelihood of documented suicidal thoughts or attempts with the likelihood of other adolescents with obesity who weren't taking the medication. Participants within the comparison group made lifestyle changes similar to exercise or behavioral changes to shed pounds.
Suicidal thoughts or actions were 33% less likely within the GLP-1 group.
In 2023, concerns about suicide risk emerged within the United States and Europe when it was reported that individuals taking GLP-1 drugs had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm. The FDA formally investigated the reports and in addition combed through clinical trial data announced in January that its “preliminary evaluation found no evidence that use of these medications causes suicidal thoughts or actions.”
However, the agency warned that due to the small variety of reports, “we cannot definitively rule out that a low risk exists; Therefore, the FDA continues to investigate this issue,” the January announcement said.
Published scientific studies on the subject have presented conflicting views, including a January article within the journal Natural medicine No increased risk of suicidal thoughts was present in people taking semaglutide in comparison with people taking several types of weight reduction medications or diabetes. But in a single different analysis published in JAMA network opened In August, researchers using data collected by the World Health Organization said they'd found “a signal for semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation that urgently requires clarification.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has advisable GLP-1 as options for treating obesity and offered a session titled “When and How to Prescribe Obesity Medications” at its national conference this yr. The moderator, Claudia Fox, MD, MPH, said in a Press release Sometimes patients ask about medication, but often the requests come from parents who themselves are taking weight reduction medication.
According to a, in 2023, almost 31,000 adolescents (ages 12 to 17) filled a prescription for a GLP-1 report published within the magazine this yr JAMA. Among them, 60% were female and about 45% lived within the southern United States
Nearly 15 million youth ages 2 to 19 suffer from obesity within the United States. The CDC estimates that one in five adolescents meets the standards, that are based on a mix of height and weight called body mass index.
While in adults a BMI of 30 or more is taken into account obese, in adolescents a BMI of 95 or more is taken into account obeseTh percentile for his or her age and gender. For example, a 15-year-old boy who's 1.70 meters tall and weighs 75 kilograms is one in every of the 95Th Percentile, and the identical goes for a 15-year-old girl of the identical height who weighs 172 kilos, such a Online CDC calculator.