{"id":178314,"date":"2025-10-04T02:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T02:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/178314\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T02:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T02:44:13","slug":"experts-explain-why-mounjaro-is-killing-peoples-libidos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/178314\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts explain why Mounjaro is killing people’s libidos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts have pinpointed exactly why slimming jabs may trigger one bizarre side effect: a drop in sex drive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once aimed at diabetes<\/a> patients, drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy are now famous for bringing about rapid weight loss<\/a> by reducing appetite.<\/p>\n

The injections’ side effects have been widely discussed, ranging from nausea and constipation and, in the most severe cases, life-threatening organ damage.<\/p>\n

Now, doctors have warned that the medication may also have another awkward and unsexy consequence\u2014patient’s libidos to plummet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a lack of intimacy may not be triggered by unpleasant side effects like constipation, bloating or crushing fatigue, they say.<\/p>\n

According to a growing number of experts, it is believed the\u00a0medication may cause a drop in libido because of how it impacts a certain brain chemical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The injections spurs weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released by in the gut after eating\u2014GLP-1 and research has shown they also influence dopamine release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Ryan Sultan, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University told Medscape<\/a>:\u00a0‘Sex is based on drive and reward as well, and many neuronal networks involved in food and sex drives overlap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Now, <\/p>\n

Now, doctors have warned that the medication may also have another awkward and unsexy consequence\u2014patient’s libidos to plummet<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

‘When we take GLP-1s, we are essentially dampening the internal processes that drive us to address our evolutionary needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘By inhibiting the pathways that drive us towards food acquisition, we are subsequently affecting the overlapping systems that drive us to have sex.’<\/p>\n

Dr Bronwyn Holmes, a doctor and hormone specialist at US weight loss clinic Eden, added:\u00a0‘These drugs are thought to dampen dopamine-driven reward signals, which help reduce the cravings for food and other compulsive behaviors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘This can indirectly affect mood and motivation, useful for weight loss but potentially relevant to other reward-driven activities like intimacy or\u00a0alcohol<\/a>\u00a0use.<\/p>\n

‘In most cases, libido or mood-related side effects are reversible after stopping the medication.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘However, the timeline and completeness of reversal vary based on the individual and the presence of other contributing factors.’<\/p>\n

One British study published last year in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine<\/a> found new patients on the drug may experience cognitive changes in their decision-making, partly from the calorie deficit the drug induces, as well as the effects of GLP-1 on brain function.<\/p>\n

‘This isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound,’ the researchers said.<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The researchers found that females between the ages of 20 and 59 who had sex less than once a week were at a 70 per cent increased risk of death within five years\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

There are, however, no large-scale studies to suggest how common these changes are, or whether they affect certain groups of people more than others.<\/p>\n

Dr Kent Berridge, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan, previously told the Daily Mail<\/a> that having sex with a partner, thinking of having sex with them and seeing them would normally trigger sexual desire, ‘just like drug use triggers desire for drugs’.<\/p>\n

‘But if you’re suppressing [dopamine activation] a little bit and cutting down those mountain peaks, sexual desire is a natural peak, so that would be plausible.<\/p>\n

‘It may be partly acting right on the nucleus accumbens [the brain structure known for its role in pleasure, reward and addiction], because there are receptors there.’<\/p>\n

At least half a million NHS patients and some 15 million patients in the US are now thought to be using weight-loss jabs, which can help patients lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight in just a few months.<\/p>\n

And the numbers using them privately are even higher.<\/p>\n

The health service currently prescribes Wegovy to around 35,000 patients at specialist weight management clinics.<\/p>\n

Mounjaro, meanwhile, has been available in similar clinics since March and as of this month, GPs are also able to prescribe it.<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

The drug warning also comes amid concern about a global sex crisis\u2014or rather, lack of sex crisis.<\/p>\n

One recent survey revealed more than a quarter (27 per cent) of Britons are now having less sex than they used to, with one in six admitting they haven’t got frisky the entire year.<\/p>\n

According to a Royal College of Occupational Therapists poll of 2,000 adults last year, men and women typically only have sex 46 times a year \u2014 once every eight days.<\/p>\n

But some have far less frequent amorous activity, with a tenth reported having sex less than once a year.<\/p>\n

Sex and intimacy have been linked to several health benefits, including improving the condition of your heart, reducing stress and even boosting mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experts have pinpointed exactly why slimming jabs may trigger one bizarre side effect: a drop in sex drive.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1237,97,59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-178314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-columbia-university","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}