'Promising' new drug could put a stop to 'Ozempic Butt' side effect reported by GLP-1 users

Research has suggested that a new medication could resolve a common side effect of taking GLP-1 drugs.

GLP-1 medications were originally licensed for the treatment of diabetes, however one of the effects of the drugs is that they can result in someone feeling full from less food.

This means that when combined with diet and exercise, GLP-1 medication can be helpful in weight loss, and their popularity has since exploded.

Now, new research on the medications has been published in Nature Medicine journal which says a drug called apitegromab could help in one side effect of GLP-1 drugs.

Like the vast majority of medication, GLP-1 medications have some side effects, among them is the so-called 'Ozempic butt'.

This is not actually directly connected to any GLP-1 medication, but rather to sudden rapid weight loss, and can see some muscle loss on the buttocks.

GLP-1 drugs have seen an explosion in popularity (Tatsiana Volkava/Getty)

According to the new research around a third of the weight loss associated with GLP-1 medication may be from muscle, with the rest from fat.

In the study, 102 adults were observed, with some taking apitegromab, a drug developed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, alongside the GLP-1.

The results indicated that the apitegromab medication could help to reduce the muscle loss during this process.

In theory this could mean that it could mitigate the side-effect of the GLP-1 drugs impacting the buttocks, the BBC reported.

However, experts have warned that further study is required in order to draw this connection definitively.

Dr Marie Spreckley is an expert from the University of Cambridge, not invovled in the trials, who said that the result are 'encouraging early evidence', though more work is needed to show a clinical benefit.

The research showed the medication could help with muscle loss (Tatsiana Volkava/Getty)

Meanwhile, there are other options for retaining and building muscle if this is something that you are concerned about with regard to GLP-1 medications.

This might include strength training, such as exercises like lifting weights, using resistance bands, push-ups and squats, yoga, and even thing like heavy gardening and climbing the stairs.

The BBC reports that between 20g and 40g of protein for each meal is a good amount if you are trying to build muscle mass.

'Ozempic butt' is not the only side effect that people are talking about, either, with others including 'Ozempic ears' and 'Ozempic teeth'.

Much like the first one, ears are more impacted by sudden weight associated with the medication rather than directly, while for teeth this is to do with saliva.

UNILAD has approached Novo Nordisk for comment.