Wegovy and other GLP-1 agonists are gaining attention as therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, new studies on GLP-1 agonists in treating overweight women with PCOS demonstrate optimistic results, which is of great interest.
This article will try to answer the question “Does Wegovy help with PCOS?”. We will tell you how Wegovy works and who exactly it can help.
Wegovy and PCOS: how to select a treatment
The clinical manifestations of this syndrome are varied and can change at different periods of life, from puberty to menopause. They largely depend on excess weight and metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance, which most women with PCOS have.
Here is what is important when selecting a method of treatment for the syndrome:
- Type and severity of symptoms.
- Desire to get pregnant.
- Female age.
Regarding the drugs that help women, doctors often prescribe:
- Weight loss medicines.
- Metformin (oral tablets).
- Medications to control testosterone levels.
- Hormones known as gonadotropins.
- Other pharmaceutical products for specific conditions.
The TGA licensed, approved and certified Wegovy for sale in the Australian market as weight loss injections. However, your doctor may prescribe these injections if you have PCOS and a high body mass index (BMI). If a woman with PCOS has a low or normal weight, she is less likely to benefit from Wegovy.
How can Wegovy help with PCOS?
Usually, excess weight is closely related to PCOS. It is scientifically proven that losing 5–10% of weight significantly reduces the syndrome symptoms.
According to scientific studies, men and women, on average, lose 14.9% of their weight when using Wegovy. 6.6% of women involved in the studies had PCOS of varying severity, and they successfully got rid of extra kilograms.
There are few clinical studies on using GLP-1 agonists with PCOS. Some of the current studies will end in 2024. One study examines the effect of oral semaglutide (one daily dose) in treating PCOS. It is not the same as semaglutide for injection, but the study results are of great interest.
Among the completed studies, one can mention the study and its findings published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information:
- Advances in GLP-1 RA weight loss offer a unique opportunity to expand treatments available to people with PCOS.
- Injectable GLP-1 agonists improve eating control, weight loss and testosterone (male hormone) levels.
Wegovy or other GLP-1 agonists could potentially be a good remedy for PCOS, but it requires additional and more reliable clinical trials.
Before treatment, women with PCOS should be screened for female and male hormone levels and insulin resistance, the condition when the body does not absorb insulin properly. In most cases, weight loss is sufficient to improve the symptoms of this relatively common condition in women.
Conclusion
According to some estimates, PCOS affects 8–13% of women of reproductive age. It is difficult to precisely determine its prevalence due to various diagnostic criteria.
There is still no consensus on the best treatment for the syndrome. However, weight loss is of primary importance in treating overweight women with PCOS and alleviating the syndrome’s clinical severity.
If the syndrome is mainly due to obesity, Wegovy may improve its symptoms through weight loss alone. However, a better understanding of the clinical efficacy of Wegovy requires further studies.
