• Posted March 6, 2026

GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Prove Effective Across Diverse Patient Groups

As the popularity of medications like Ozempic and Trulicity for losing weight continues to soar, folks may wonder: "Will they work for me?"

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sought to shed light on that question by analyzing results of dozens of studies on the drugs. 

The takeaway: GLP-1 receptor agonists, also known as GLP-1 RAs, appear to be similarly effective in patients of different races, ages and weights, though women seem to get a slightly bigger benefit than men.

The meta-analysis — published March 2 in JAMA Internal Medicine —  included 64 clinical trials involving close to 20,000 participants. 

For the most part, the drugs performed consistently well across the board.

While the drugs were effective for everyone, the data revealed a notable gender gap. On average, women who took these meds lost about 11% of their total body weight. In contrast, men lost about 7%.

Scientists suspect this isn't just a coincidence. Potential reasons for the gap include biological differences in how women’s bodies process the medication; lower starting weights; and even possible interactions with estrogen.

Beyond the gender difference, researchers found that these drugs were similarly effective across other categories. 

Whether a patient was under or over 65, or whether their Body Mass Index — an estimate of body fat based on height and weight — was high or low to start, the results were remarkably alike.

The same pattern held true for different racial and ethnic groups and starting blood sugar levels, measured as HbA1c.

“These results should give clinicians and their patients more confidence that GLP-1-RAs work similarly well across different racial and ethnic populations, and different ages and weights,” senior author Hemalkumar Mehta, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said in a news release.

Because these medications are costly and in high demand, understanding exactly who benefits — and by how much — is crucial for health care access. 

The study excluded certain dual-hormone drugs like Zepbound to focus specifically on the GLP-1 class, which mimics a natural hormone that tells the brain a person is full and helps the pancreas manage insulin.

“The popularity and the cost of GLP-1 RAs are such that we need more studies like this to better understand the benefits of these products in clinical practice, especially for individuals that might be under-represented in clinical trials,” noted corresponding author Dr. Caleb Alexander, a practicing internist and epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins.

Of note, nearly all of the clinical trials were industry funded.

More information

The World Health Organization offers global guidance on the use of GLP-1s for obesity.

SOURCES: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, news release, Mar. 2, 2026; JAMA Internal Medicine, Mar. 2, 2026

What This Means For You

This study suggests that treatment with GLP-1 RAs is likely to be effective for many groups. But men’s average weight loss may be slightly lower than that of women.