From huge successes in treating type 2 diabetes and obesity to astronomical pricing, drug shortages, escalating conflicts, and sometimes an ever-growing list of other conditions, where’s the news and buzz about GLP-1 drugs these days? There is also. It may be possible to treat it. There are new headlines every day.
But while the drug has suddenly come into the spotlight in recent years, researchers have struggled to develop and understand it for decades, dating back to the 1970s. And since its development, this drug has remained a mystery and unknown. For example, researchers have long thought that it works directly in the gut to lower blood sugar levels and make you feel full. As it turns out, this drug mimics the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 and does just that. However, subsequent research found that they function in the brain.
In fact, molecular receptors for GLP-1 are scattered throughout the body. These are found in the central nervous system, heart, blood vessels, liver, and kidneys. Their presence in the brain is also involved in inflammation. As such, research on GLP-1 continues to flourish as scientists work to understand the role it can play in the treatment of a variety of other chronic diseases.
