Intermountain Healthcare
In a major new study, researchers from Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City have found that weight loss drugs used by patients who have high triglycerides do not increase their risk of pancreatitis or adverse cardiac events.
Since the first GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RAs), more commonly known now as weight loss drugs, were approved in 2005, some clinicians have been hesitant to prescribe them to people who have very high triglycerides. That’s because these patients are typically at high risk of pancreatitis, and the drugs interact with the pancreas.
In the new study, Intermountain researchers found that GLP1RAs don’t increase the risk of pancreatitis in these patients – and for those who have never had pancreatitis, being on a GLP1RA medication led to a four times lower risk of developing the condition…