Playford, Raymond J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1235-8504 and Deahl, M. (2024) Starting GLP-1 therapy may induce impulse control disorders. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 117 (10). ISSN 1460-2725

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Abstract

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists are being increasingly used globally. Clinical indications have expanded from treatment of diabetes and obesity with associated pathologies, to obese individuals without co-morbidities and more worryingly, are being used by non-obese media celebrities and “internet influencers” for rapid lifestyle weight loss.

Current warnings about GLP-1 agonists mainly relate to gut motility issues. Effects on cognition has received scant attention, with the few studies published focusing on longer term outcomes, rather than during the immediate phase of rapid weight loss.1 The authors of this article (a gastroenterologist and a psychiatrist) have become aware of individuals (not their patients) who have started on GLP-1 medication and made major life changing decisions regarding their domestic situation (such as divorce, house moves) within the first few months of starting treatment. Without knowing the details underlying these events, the rationale for some of them appears reckless. This led us to consider that starting GLP-1 agonists may result in cognitive changes in decision making through the combination of metabolic changes resulting from calorie deficit/rapid weight loss, in combination with direct effects of GLP-1 agonists on brain function.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1093/qjmed/hcae095
Subjects:	Medicine and health
Depositing User:	Marc Forster
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2024 11:26
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2024 11:30
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/12996

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