Doctor praises weight loss drugs for secretly benefiting men's sperm in new study
Doctors think they might have found another health benefit from weight loss drugs after new research indicated they could boost men's fertility rates and improve their sperm.
A growing number of people have started taking weight loss drugs for their primary function, and pharmaceutical companies are working on alternative forms of the medication.
This line of treatments are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, mimicking the hormone from your small intestine which does a number of things including telling your brain you're full.
With your appetite suppressed you should be less likely to eat food and ought to lose weight as a result, though it's meant to be done alongside healthy alterations in your diet and lifestyle otherwise you'll lose fat and muscle mass in significant amounts.
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Meanwhile, Dr Pratibha Natesh of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire has told CNN that a new study has shown measurable benefits for men's fertility.
The doctor explained that the study results found 24 weeks of GLP-1 treatment in men aged between 18 and 65 found they had boosted testosterone levels, higher sperm count and an improved size and shape of sperm.
I'm sure I don't know what optimal sperm shape looks like but according to Dr Natesh indicated it was enough to consider whether weight loss drugs might also bring benefits for fertility.
As for why this might be the case, she added that the weight loss these drugs are supposed to help with can improve hormone function, which includes your testosterone levels.
The doctor suggested that if future studies bear out this observation then GLP-1 drugs could be a viable alternative to testosterone replacement therapy which can have negative effects on the production of sperm.
Dr Amin Herati, who was not part of the study, suggested some people had trouble losing weight because of hormone problems rather than the hormone problems being a result of the excess weight.
He noted that a sudden change in weight could also send signals to the brain that this was not a safe time to reproduce and so could negatively impact fertility.
As with the results of many studies, more research would be needed to shore up the findings and confirm exactly how they came about.
Dr Minguez Alarcón added that since this was a study on the impact of weight loss drugs it was only done on men with a high body mass index (BMI), so possible benefits might not be shared among the wider population.
There are other side effects to GLP-1 drugs as well, as with plenty of people using them there have been plenty of people affected by the downsides of the medication.
Joe Harker