New national data reveals a sharp increase in GLP-1 recipes for young women, but low use of contraception leaves many at risk of unintentional pregnancy and uncertain results for their babies.
Study: The impact of the use of GLP-1 fighter by women of reproductive age who attend the general practices in Australia, 2011-2022: a retrospective Open Coorda study. Credit Picture: Tetiana_kryvous/Shutterstock.com
A new study in Australian medical journal It examines the use of peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor receptor (RAS) in women of reproductive age in Australia to effectively manage type 2 diabetes, along with contraception and pregnancy in this population.
Import
GLP-1 RAS acts like the natural GLP-1 hormone, stimulant secretion of insulin in the presence of high blood sugar levels. Initially investigated for diabetes management, strong weight induction results led to their increasing use of off -weight loss.
About 1% of Australia’s reproductive age women have type 2 diabetes and over 40% of women with type 2 diabetes are also overweight or obese. Consequently, 1% of pregnancy is complicated by type 2 diabetes, compared to 50% of pregnancy with overweight or obesity. Preliminary perception care is essential for women with diabetes or excessive body weight to improve pregnancy effects, especially because 40% of pregnancy in Australia is not scheduled.
The use of GLP-1 RAS for weight management is likely to improve fertility due to even moderate weight loss. However, their safety during pregnancy remains unclear. Animal studies show a limitation of fetal growth, delay in osteoporosis, skeletal variants and reduced mother weight gain, although more recent human elements, including a group of 938 pregnancies, does not indicate an increased risk of significant relatives compared to insulin. However, safety concerns extend beyond malformations and no other potentially undesirable pregnancy effects were examined.
The current UK guidelines advise during their use during pregnancy and suggest simultaneously effective contraception for women who use them during their reproductive years. However, a few women starting GLP-1 RAS are in contraception. A significant proportion of these women is shortly decreased after the start of treatment with these factors.
The current study attempted to understand the use of GLP-1 RA among Australia women in their reproductive years, along with compliance with contraception recommendations and the frequency of pregnancy in this subgroup.
For the study
The study included 1,635,684 women aged 18 to 49 years, of which 18,010 were prescribed for the first time from January 1, 2011 and July 31, 2022.
Study findings
The impact of the GLP-1 RA recipe on the subgroup of women of childbearing age with type 2 diabetes amounted to 13 per 1,000 women in 2011, increasing to 88.5 per 1,000 women in 2022.
Of the 6,954 women receiving GLP-1 RA recipes in 2022, 91% of them did not have type 2 diabetes, indicating that use outside the label was the most recipes.
About 21% of cochor had adequate electronic health registration data to determine the contraception over the GLP-1 RA. In this subgroup, about 17% of women who were treated with type 2 diabetes were currently contrary to 23% of people without diabetes. About 6% and 9% of women in GLP-1 RAS with and without type 2 diabetes used long-acting reversal methods, compared to 11% in total for Australian women.
There were 232 pregnancies among 10,781 women within six months of the prescription of these factors, taking into account only women who could be monitored at least for this period. Women with contraception when they started GLP-1 RAS were 40% less likely to capture the next six months.
About 4% of women aged 18-29 who had type 2 diabetes and were in GLP-1 RAS became pregnant, the highest rate among all age groups. In contrast, among non-diabetic women, the highest percentage was 6% among people aged 30-34 years. The women who caught within six months of the onset of GLP-1 RAS were twice as likely to have polycystic ovary syndrome compared to those who did not.
Conclusions
GLP-1 RAS is increasingly prescribed among women within the reproductive period in Australia, regardless of the presence of type 2 diabetes. Most women who prescribe these drugs did not have type 2 diabetes. This indicates that they are increasingly out of order for weight loss and other evidence.
More than 75% of these women do not use contraceptives at the start of the use of these factors. This indicates the need for more research to determine the guidelines that can ensure that GLP-1 RAS is used safely and effectively in this group of women, including those with type 2 diabetes, obesity or overweight and polycystic ovary syndrome.
The study also noted that the rapid increase in prescription by 2020 coincided with the approval and registration of Semaglutide in Australia, which probably led to much of the recent growth. There is an urgent need to determine the possible effects of these drugs on the fetus.
