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Can We Prevent Muscle Loss While Taking GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs?
GLP-1 medications like Zepbound have changed the way we treat obesity. But as more people lose significant amounts of weight, another question has emerged:
What happens to your muscle?
It's normal to lose some lean mass—including muscle—during weight loss. But researchers are now asking whether preserving more muscle could improve long-term health, particularly as we age.
In this episode, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Richard Pratley, lead author of a new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating whether an investigational antibody called apitegromab can help preserve lean mass in people taking tirzepatide (Zepbound).
Together they discuss:
• Why people lose lean mass during weight loss
• What "lean mass" actually means—and why it matters
• Why muscle preservation has become one of the biggest new questions in obesity medicine
• How apitegromab works by blocking myostatin—a protein that acts like a brake on muscle growth
• The results of the study and how much lean mass participants preserved
• Why preserving lean mass doesn't automatically mean preserving strength
• Whether concerns about muscle loss on GLP-1 medications have become exaggerated
• The importance of resistance training and adequate protein during weight loss
• Whether future obesity treatment will focus less on body weight and more on body composition
• The bigger question: Are we entering an era where one medication leads to another—or is there a better path???
This conversation explores one of the most interesting—and practical—questions in obesity research today: Can we lose fat without sacrificing too much muscle?
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