Semaglutide as a Game Changer for Weight Loss

Mark A. Moyad, MD, MPH, and Martin M. Miner, MD, presented “Semaglutide as a Game Changer for Weight Loss​” for the Grand Rounds in Urology audience in February 2022.

How to cite: Moyad, Mark A, and Miner, Martin M. “Semaglutide as a Game Changer for Weight Loss.” February 2022. Accessed Dec 2024. https://grandroundsinurology.com/semaglutide-as-a-game-changer-for-weight-loss/

Semaglutide as a Game Changer for Weight Loss

Mark A. Moyad, MD, MPH, the Jenkins/Pokempner Director of Preventive/Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) at the University of Michigan Medical Center in the Department of Urology in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Martin M. Miner, MD, Co-Director of the Men’s Health Center and Chief of Family and Community Medicine for Miriam Hospital, and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Urology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, discuss the potential benefits of semaglutide, a newly approved weight-loss drug. Dr. Moyad begins by summarizing the damage done by past weight-loss drugs, noting that they inevitably came with a huge catch and were never heart-healthy. He then introduces semaglutide, a recently-approved drug which has been shown to result in 15% weight loss over 2 years. Dr. Miner elaborates, explaining that there have been 4 studies of semaglutide featuring over 4500 individuals and that it is extremely safe. He highlights that the smaller dose in diabetics has also been shown to improve renal and cardiovascular outcomes, and that these outcomes are now being studied in non-diabetics. Dr. Miner argues that these results suggest semaglutide is a game changer. Dr. Moyad then discusses potential catches, noting that while the side effect profile seems good, the cost is very high at nearly $900 per month, and it is not covered by most insurance. Dr. Miner suggests that the price will go down once some time has passed from the initial approval. He does highlight as a negative the fact that semaglutide is given once per week as a subcutaneous injection, and suggests that it will be beneficial if the oral version currently under investigation is found to be effective. Drs. Miner and Moyad also ponder the long term impacts of semaglutide and sustained weight loss on testosterone levels, blood pressure, and depression. Dr. Moyad concludes by discussing his curiosity about the potential impact of semaglutide in a urologic setting.

For more from Drs. Moyad and Miner on weight loss and men’s health, check out their discussion on Testosterone, Weight Loss / Weight Gain, and Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). 

About the Authors

Mark A. Moyad, MD, MPH

Dr. Moyad is the Jenkins/Pokempner Director of Preventive/Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) at the University of Michigan Medical Center in the Department of Urology. He occupies an endowed position, which was originally created and funded entirely by the patients he has helped over the past 25+ years. This was the first endowment of its kind created for a physician at a major medical center in the US. Dr. Moyad has always considered himself to be, first and foremost, a physician public health educator. Dr. Moyad believes in the power of lifestyle changes to improve overall mental, physical, and spiritual wellness, and in their potential ability to keep pill counts and dosages to a minimum, while also enhancing the impact of conventional treatments when needed. This has been the focus of his research and lectures his entire career. Dr. Moyad received his medical education from the University of South Florida College of Public Health and the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is the primary author of over 150 published medical journal articles on the subject of lifestyle changes and supplements, the past Editor-in-Chief of the medical journal Seminars in Preventive & Alternative Medicine, and has given 1000s of lectures around the world to public and health care professionals in virtually every medical specialty and major medical center. Dr. Moyad is the author or co-author of 15 academic and consumer books, including the Integrative Medicine Clinical/Teaching Guidebooks, the Promoting Wellness series for patients, and his public bestseller The Supplement Handbook. He is honored to be the moderator of one of the largest patient conferences held twice a year in Los Angeles, California, and has provided monthly educational clinical research updates for the last 15+ years to health care professionals and national patient advocacy groups. He has been a consultant and/or interviewed for most major magazines, websites, radio and television shows devoted to health in the US, and appears regularly on a variety of programs.

Martin M. Miner, MD

Martin M. Miner, MD, is Co-Director of the Men’s Health Center and Chief of Family and Community Medicine for Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. He is also Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Urology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence and has been charged with the development of a multidisciplinary Men’s Health Center within the Lifespan/Brown University system. Dr. Miner received his MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. He completed his residency at Brown University and spent time working with the Indian Health Service Corps and the Public Health Service. Dr. Miner presently holds memberships in the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Urological Association, and is a Fellow of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and the former president of the American Society of Men’s Health. He has published extensively in the areas of erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease, benign prostatic hyperplasia and lower urinary tract symptoms, and male sexuality and hormonal replacement therapy in men.