{"id":851108,"date":"2026-03-26T07:35:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/851108\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T07:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:35:15","slug":"jacksonville-research-group-exploring-new-paths-to-lasting-weight-loss-beyond-glp-1-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/851108\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville research group exploring new paths to lasting weight loss beyond GLP-1 drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla. <\/strong> \u2013 For some, <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/treatments\/13901-glp-1-agonists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/treatments\/13901-glp-1-agonists\">GLP-1 drugs<\/a> feel like a weight-loss miracle. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">For others, the weight comes right back after they stop taking them, which has led a Jacksonville-area clinical research group to work on finding a solution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, has become one of the most talked-about breakthroughs in weight loss medicine. The science behind it starts with how the body communicates with itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWhen you say GLP-1, that\u2019s a type of messenger hormone called an incretin,\u201d said Dr. Michael Koren with the Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research. He is also a cardiologist. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Incretins are hormones sent from the gut to the brain. After a meal, they signal the brain to stop eating. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">But for some people, that signal doesn\u2019t work as effectively \u2014 making it harder to feel full and easier to overeat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">In fact, Koren explains that GLP-1 medications were not originally designed to help people shed pounds. Their roots are in diabetes care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThese drugs were originally developed to treat diabetes but turned out to have this satiety effect and helped people lose weight because they just don\u2019t eat as much,\u201d Koren said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">But as millions of people have discovered, GLP-1 drugs don\u2019t work the same way for everyone, and results can stall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThere are still people that take GLP-1 and they get some weight loss and then they get stuck. We are not always sure why they get stuck, but they do,\u201d Koren said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Koren, who has worked in clinical research for 35 years, said he is now studying a different class of incretin called an \u201camylin agonist\u201d that takes a distinct approach to appetite control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">While GLP-1 works by enhancing the body\u2019s natural signaling after a meal, amylin works continuously to quietly reduce the mental \u201cnoise\u201d of food cravings throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The research question Koren and his team are now trying to answer: Can combining the two do more than either one alone?<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cSo the research that we are doing now is if we can add an amylin agonist on top of a GLP-1 and if that combination does better than the GLP-1 alone,\u201d Koren said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Several dozen participants from Northeast Florida are currently enrolled in the study; however, specific participant information is confidential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The trial is a blind study, meaning participants do not know whether they are receiving the test medication or a placebo. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Results are expected to take two to three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">If the combination proves effective, it could be a game-changer for the millions of people who have plateaued on GLP-1 medications \u2014 or who have regained weight after stopping them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">For more information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/medevidence.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">medevidence.com<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/encoredocs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">encoredocs.com<\/a> or read more about ongoing obesity trials <a href=\"https:\/\/medevidence.com\/big-clinical-trials-on-the-horizon-for-obesity.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/medevidence.com\/big-clinical-trials-on-the-horizon-for-obesity.\">at this link here.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 For some, GLP-1 drugs feel like a weight-loss miracle. For others, the weight comes right&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4315],"tags":[16231,105,14048,4326,16,15,734],"class_list":["post-851108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-glp-1","tag-health","tag-jacksonville","tag-medication","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-weight-loss"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116294328594420547","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}