Older women have a few extra factors to consider when they begin taking a GLP-1 drug.
Dushay says some users need to be particularly careful about bone and muscle loss while taking a GLP-1. Body composition changes with age — muscle mass and bone density tend to peak in our thirties, after which they steadily decline. Menopause accelerates these declines. The loss of muscle mass and bone density associated with menopause can lead to both sarcopenia (serious muscle loss) and osteoporosis (fragile bones).
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Narang says when a person loses a substantial amount of weight, they don’t just lose fat, they also lose muscle and bone mass. Weight loss drugs, therefore, can exacerbate the natural muscle and bone density loss in postmenopausal women.
“You have to take active steps to maintain your muscle mass as you age,” Dushay says. “That is especially true with a medication such as a GLP-1 agonist that has the potential to cause significant and at times rapid weight loss.”
“Something we emphasize with medical weight management is the importance of resistance exercise,” Narang says. Adding weight training or body-weight exercises to your workout routine as you age is important for everyone, especially for people who use weight loss drugs. Eating enough protein can help preserve lean muscle mass, too.
“At the end of the day, the medication is just a resource and the lifestyle aspect — exercising and eating well — is incredibly important to sustain over time,” she says.
