Robert Whitfield MDAmerica's Breast Implant Illness Expert™

Discovering the Potential of Semaglutide A Breakthrough in Diabetes Treatment

16 Feb 2024 · 1 min

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Speakers (including Robert Whitfield MD) frame a cautious but appreciative view of pharmaceutical firms: while skeptical of some practices, they acknowledge the large-scale research investment that yields life-saving molecules. The clip explains that GLP-1 receptor agonists (e.g., liraglutide, semaglutide) were difficult to discover; liraglutide was the first and requires daily dosing. The speaker gives a brief mechanistic account: GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) agonism enhances insulin secretion from the pancreas and can reduce insulin resistance, helping lower blood glucose.

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Bob and I are some of the most skeptical of the practices of the pharmaceutical companies. But on the flip side, the positive that they bring to the world is they do an enormous amount of research, and there's dedicated doctors who are looking for molecules that can save lives. And billions of dollars go into this every single year. And so one of the ways that we learn about peptides is through some of these pharmaceutical research grants and studies. And semaglutide was not an Easy1. The GLP1s were not an easy one to discover. Liraglutide was the very first one. And liraglutide is something that needs to be taken daily. What they notice is it's a GLP1 agonist. And so that a GLP is a glucagon, like peptide. And when you get more of glucagon in your body, you have better insulin secretion from your pancreas. So it actually pulls sugar into the blood, so you get a little bit of lessening of some insulin resistance.