T he newest weight-loss drugs, Wegovy and Zepbound, are incredibly popular. But doctors are still learning about all of the ways they affect the body—both helpful and harmful—beyond reducing weight. In report published in Nature Medicine,

As demand for weight-loss injections sold under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy continues to soar, a study has uncovered neurological and behavioral health benefits amid risks for pancreatitis and kidney disease.

The first study to assess how weight-loss drugs affect the whole of human health has discovered an "eye-opening" impact on the body, researchers say. The analysis, involving about two million people,

If successful, the result could be lower Medicare Part D prices for drugs used to create a variety of conditions, such as cancer, asthma, type 2 diabetes and weight loss - Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy. Austedo and Austedo XR, used to treat Huntington’s disease.

Some outcomes, like reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and increased chance of nausea, were expected. But others took researchers by surprise.

About 140,400 obese patients in Massachusetts were prescribed medications like Wegovy and Zepbound in 2024, a 255 percent increase from 2023, according to a Globe analysis of insurance claims data.

Websites selling compounded versions of popular weight-loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to U.S. consumers often do not inform patients of the risks associated with these medicines, according to a research letter published on Friday.

In all, researchers found that people taking GLP-1 medications had lower risks for 42 health outcomes, including liver failure, lung failure, cardiac arrest, aspiration pneumonia and shock.

The findings, based on an analysis of records from 2.5 million VA patients, support much of what scientists already suspected but contain surprises, too.