With some people who take GLP-1 style drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound, reporting thinner hair as well as slimmer bodies, experts have theorized that this side effect may be the result of rapid weight loss. However, new research out of NYU Langone Health in New York suggests that GLP-1 treatments could have a more direct link with baldness, increasing the risk of hair loss in susceptible men by 7%.
The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, suggests that the risk of hair loss is determined by genetics. Those who are predisposed to androgenetic alopecia, a common type of hair loss, are more likely to drop some hair as they drop pounds of body fat. It’s not just men that are affected but with more studies completed on male hair loss, an abundance of historical data meant this initial study would be focused on the guys.
What Did NYU Langone Discover About Ozempic and Male Hair Loss?
The research team analyzed a genetic database of more than 200,000, mostly white men, to determine a link between GLP-1 style drugs and hair loss. Here, experts found that those with androgenetic alopecia were more likely to have higher level of the GLP-1 receptor proteins while on the drugs. Even after accounting for other hair loss triggers like hypertension and high blood pressure, the group of men with androgenetic alopecia were given a 7% additional risk of hair loss when compared to those who were not predisposed to the condition.
“Our study provides the first genetic link between GLP-1 use and an increased risk of male-pattern hair loss from androgenetic alopecia, an association long suspected but until now not shown scientifically,” commented the study’s senior investigator, Lynn Petukhova, PhD, who is an assistant professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
This is an important breakthrough, because understanding the link between GLP-1 drugs and hair loss could lead to future treatments. “Our findings suggest that, if future experiments prove successful, some men, and possibly women too, could be screened and benchmarked for their risk of hair loss before being prescribed GLP-1 medications,” added Dr. Petukhova. “We could also envision these findings leading to some GLP-1 users being prescribed combination treatments to prevent hair loss, such as minoxidil or some other drug.”