influence brain regions<\/a> involved in emotional regulation and potentially trigger or worsen severe depressive symptoms.<\/p>\nThe academic neuroscientist Paul Kenny, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York, said the world was in the midst of a \u201chuge experiment\u201d as millions of people started using GLP-1 drugs, with researchers only now starting to collect data on how they affect behaviour as well as physiology.<\/p>\n
He said some of the links already emerging were surprising, suggesting the medications may influence far more than appetite and weight. \u201cWe still know very little about what GLP-1 does in the brain,\u201d he said, though an emerging body of research suggests the drugs may help protect against neurodegenerative disorders. Recent clinical trials in people in the early stages of dementia have raised the possibility that drugs that enhance GLP-1 signalling could have neuroprotective effects.<\/p>\n
On whether such drugs could alter love, emotion or social bonds, Kenny was more cautious, saying he could not comment directly from a neurobiological perspective. But he added that it would not surprise him if medications so closely tied to the body\u2019s energy systems also shaped human emotions and social interactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of animal behaviour is influenced by energetics and energy availability, all the things tied to survival,\u201d he said. Because GLP-1 is intimately linked to energy status, he said, it was plausible that shifting those signals could also modify behaviour.<\/p>\n
In animals, for example, Kenny said territoriality often increased when food was scarce, suggesting energy balance can shape the nature of social interactions. \u201cGLP-1 is also linked to how the brain processes reward and pleasurable stimuli,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
These drugs have been affecting libido, as Dr Naveed Asif, a GP from London General Practice, explained: \u201cFrom a physical perspective, GLP-1 medications affect smooth muscle activity, which can influence arousability and orgasm due to changes in blood flow to the genital area.<\/p>\n
\u201cChemically, the effects may vary among different patient groups, but there\u2019s also a dopaminergic component: dopamine, a hormone released in the brain in response to stimuli, may decrease when using these peptides. This creates challenges related to desire and sexual attraction, potentially impacting overall sexual function.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds: \u201cOestrogen is a key sex hormone, so taking GLP-1s might disrupt its balance, which can lead to emotional disturbances. This issue appears to be more pronounced in women using these peptides.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have observed that many women experience significant side-effects that lead them to discontinue the medication. Some patients reported worsening mental health, including increased depression and anxiety, which likely affects sexual function as a secondary consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Sophie Dix, from the online pharmacy MedExpress, said the \u201cleap from \u2018reduced food cravings\u2019 to \u2018unable to fall in love\u2019 is where the science currently doesn\u2019t follow. Romantic attachment is a much more complex neurobiological process than a single reward pathway.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe are seeing a range of experiences in clinical practice; some users report reduced libido, others report improvement, and many of those changes are better explained by a range of other factors. Research shows that weight loss and improved metabolic health can boost confidence, self-image and sexual self-esteem, which for many patients enhances rather than diminishes desire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dix noted that because GLPs affect the reward areas of the brain, they are believed to reduce compulsive behaviours. \u201cThis could indeed imply risk of anhedonia \u2013 loss of enjoyment in things. However, this isn\u2019t generally seen \u2026 It is likely that GLPs normalise or stabilise the system rather than simply blunt it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThe research is still early, and this is an area that genuinely warrants more clinical investigation. Patients should feel comfortable raising any concerns about emotional or sexual changes with their prescribing clinician.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent TikTok video shows a man in a black baseball cap, with text over the video stating:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482],"class_list":{"0":"post-378074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}