August 19, 2026
Researchers from the UK and Canada found that users of GLP-1 medications - weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro that help regulate appetite and blood sugar levels - often rely on social media, online forums, friends and family for information about the drugs. Almost half (48%) of participants said social media was a source of information, while healthcare professionals were consulted less frequently.
GLP‑1s do not harm male hormones or fertility after long-term use, according to a study being presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.
In fact, the research team found GLP-1s may improve testosterone levels and sperm quality in men with obesity‑related low testosterone while also addressing the underlying effects of obesity.
Scientists at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Warwick Medical School in Coventry, United Kingdom, made the discovery after searching medical databases for published randomized controlled trials. They focused on studies that compared GLP-1s to other treatments or placebo in men aged 18–65. While the researchers mainly looked at changes in testosterone and other hormones that control testicular function, they also examined sperm quality, body weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, and overall metabolic health.
Two independent reviewers checked the studies to reduce bias, and five clinical trials met the eligibility criteria.
August 10, 2026
Medical University of South Carolina
As millions of people take GLP-1 medications for obesity and diabetes, some users have begun asking an unexpected question: Can these drugs dull your ability to experience pleasure?
Across social media and online forums, some people describe feeling emotionally “flat,” less excited by activities they once enjoyed. They also mentioned feeling less interested in favourite foods, alcohol, shopping, sex or other rewarding experiences while taking the medications.
The reports have sparked questions about whether GLP-1s can cause a reduced ability to experience pleasure, known as anhedonia. While the theory is biologically plausible, the research so far tells a different story.
Studies to date have not found convincing evidence that GLP-1 medications cause anhedonia. Instead, research has generally found improvements in depression, mental well-being, and quality of life among people taking the drugs.
Trends point toward better quality of life, fewer symptoms of depression and greater feelings of self-worth and motivation among people taking these medications. Many patients also report experiencing less “food noise,” the constant thoughts about eating that can make weight management emotionally exhausting, which may contribute to an overall sense of improved well-being.
“The big meta-analysis would say that there’s a trend toward improvement in psychological symptoms overall,” said Josh Neal, M.D., chief of the MUSC Health Wellness and Human Performance Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence (ICCE) and an obesity medicine physician. “I would say, overall, I’ve seen people enjoy mostly an improvement in their mental health symptoms.”
Early in the rollout of GLP-1s, regulators investigated whether the drugs might increase the risk of suicidal thoughts after reports emerged in Europe between 2020 and 2022. However, the evidence has since been reassuring.
“There is no increased risk of suicidal ideation or suicidality in general,” Neal said, noting that both randomized controlled trials and large population-based studies have failed to confirm the initial concern.
When it comes to anhedonia specifically, however, the evidence is much thinner because most studies weren’t designed to evaluate anhedonia. Instead, they measured broader mental health outcomes such as depression. Since anhedonia is only one component of depression, researchers may not detect changes unless they ask targeted questions.
One small study out of the University of Toronto Health System addressed that gap by examining motivated behaviour, a surrogate marker for anhedonia. The researchers reported that semaglutide actually improved motivated behaviour in people with depression.
“ Basically, anhedonia got better in the people who had depression and who were on the GLP-1,” said Neal.
Neal said the theory isn’t far-fetched from a biological standpoint. GLP-1 receptors act on areas of the brain involved in reward processing and on parts of the dopamine system that help to determine what feels pleasurable and motivating.
“The biological and the neurobiological mechanisms are totally plausible,” Neal said. “But we haven’t seen it in the data.”
The same brain pathways are also thought to contribute to the reduced cravings for alcohol and other substances that have been observed in some people taking GLP-1 medications.
“Good data suggests that people have less alcohol use, less other substance use, when they’re on this medicine,” Neal said. “So they feel less of that reward overall.”
More research specifically focused on anhedonia will be needed to determine whether a small subset of patients experience these effects that current studies have overlooked.
“If you really want to find that out, you probably have to specifically ask about it,” said Neal.
Individual experiences can differ even if the overall evidence is reassuring. Some patients report feeling all-around improvements while others simply don’t like how they feel on the medication and stop taking it. Neal said that if patients notice emotional changes, they should discuss them with their healthcare providers rather than dismissing them.
“Everybody’s experience can be really different,” he explained. “These medicines do have a very powerful effect on areas of the brain.”
This is likely to become an important area of future research as scientists begin studying reward function directly rather than relying only on depression questionnaires.
“There have been lots of case reports where somebody had symptoms of anhedonia and then came off the medication, and it cleared up, which is a good indicator that the medication might have been contributory.”
August 6, 2026
Price competition is intensifying between the two firms that dominate the market for GLP-1 obesity and diabetes drugs, yet early prescribing data shows patients still favour the costlier injectable versions over cheaper new pills.
The Wegovy pill is much cheaper than Novo's injectables, according to the Financial Times, though that lower price has weighed on the company's sales.
Cheaper pills have not shifted patient behaviour so far.
Injectable GLP-1s still account for roughly three of every four new patient starts, Lilly Chief Financial Officer Lucas Montarce said.
Novo's Wegovy pill has topped 5m prescriptions since its January launch, CNBC reported.
Lilly's injectable Mounjaro rose 91 percent to US$9.94bn in the second quarter and Zepbound brought in US$4.93bn, according to Reuters.
Product perception is reinforcing the tilt toward injectables.
The general view holds that tirzepatide, the ingredient in Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro, is the stronger option, with efficacy the deciding factor for consumers, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman told Reuters.
"The general consensus in the community is that tirzepatide is the better product... efficacy is what's key," he said.
July 29, 2026
Researchers at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine in Colorado have found that oral semaglutide reduced heavy drinking in adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD).
A new study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, evaluated the oral form of semaglutide, which researchers say may be more appealing to people with AUD than injectable versions that have previously been tested.
"Interestingly, participants who received semaglutide did not lose weight, suggesting that the reduction in their drinking was independent from weight loss or eating behavior," Joseph Schacht, a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Colorado Anschutz, told Newsweek.
July/August 2026 • PharmaTimes Magazine
Beyond the number on a scale – it is time to talk about GLP-1 as metabolic medicine
The conversation about GLP-1 receptor agonists has been dominated by the number on the bathroom scale.
Weight loss is real, visible and easy to communicate, and it has carried these medicines into the public imagination faster than almost any drug class in living memory.
But it is a reductive way to think about what they do. Framing semaglutide and its peers as weight loss drugs sells short their most important promise – the treatment of metabolic dysfunction.
The scale measures weight in stones or kilograms. Being overweight is a sign of the metabolic dysfunction that underpins obesity. GLP-1 treats the metabolic disease of obesity. The weight loss is a marker of something deeper.
By improving insulin sensitivity, reducing visceral and ectopic fat, and lowering systemic inflammation, GLP-1 receptor agonists act on the biology that drives heart attacks, strokes and type 2 diabetes.
The landscape around GLP-1 is ever changing and almost daily there is discussion in the media about how it may help other health issues such as drug addiction, alcoholism and even reduce cancer risk.
Whilst most of these indications are in the early stages of research, one condition supported by high-quality evidence makes the case plainly for use of GLP-1s beyond obesity. Fatty liver disease, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease or MASLD, is that condition.