“It Didn’t Work on Me” #why

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]A new study explains why some people on GLP-1s don't lose quite as much weight as they would expect. My name's Dr. Sarmad, a primary care physician working in London with a master's degree in medical research. Let's look at [music] the facts. The GLP-1 is a hormone that naturally works in our body, and it does a few things including slowing down the emptying of the gut and stimulating the secretion of insulin. So, when we give GLP-1 medications, what they do is mimic the active form of this hormone in high concentrations. But, what this study has shown is that in some people there are changes in genes called PAM genes, which are present in around 10% [music] of people that affect the response to that hormone signaling. The study went further to show that if you have this mutation, then you have an average of around a 44% of loss of how effective the medications are compared to someone who doesn't have the mutation at all. Studies like this that help us to understand when we're asking the wrong questions like, "Does this medication work?" instead of, "Who does this medication work best for?"

[00:01:03]This helps to give an argument for precision medicine where people have an individualized treatment plan based on their genetic profile, not just their easily measurable characteristics.