Be alert to pancreatitis in patients using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs

Healthcare professionals have been urged to be vigilant to signs of acute pancreatitis in patients who are taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.

A team of academics have issued guidance on how to manage patients – including those who may be privately accessing weight-loss medicines.

Among the recommendations – from researchers at King’s College London and the University of East Anglia – is that patients should be asked routinely about use and watch out for red flag symptoms such as severe abdominal pain which may signal acute pancreatitis or biliary disease.

Related Article: Women less likely than men to be treated for heart condition

Prescribers should also consider the need to alter doses of other medications such as insulin, sulphonylureas and antihypertensives to avoid hypoglycaemia and postural hypotension as weight reduces, the paper in Obesity Facts advises.

The advice, developed in collaboration with GPs, also reiterates advice that women of childbearing age should stop GLP-1 drugs two months before conception attempts as well as being advised to use effective contraception.

Dr Helen Parretti, joint first author and consultant clinical associate professor in primary care at the University of East Anglia, said she hoped the recommendations would support healthcare professionals working in primary care, when managing  patients on these medications.

‘They offer practical, evidence-based guidance that has been designed to be easily accessible to busy healthcare professionals.’

Meanwhile, the medicines regulator is urging patients who have been affected by acute pancreatitis after using weight loss jabs to report it through the Yellow Card scheme.

It is part of a work to investigate whether the risk of acute pancreatitis from GLP-1 injections for weight loss and type 2 diabetes may be influenced by an individual’s genes.

Related Article: Increased risk of heart disease with adult-onset type 1 diabetes

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has partnered with Genomics England look into the issue in more detail and also wants healthcare professionals to report when patients have been impacted.

Those who have flagged the side effect through the Yellow Card scheme will be asked if they want to take part in a Biobank study to look at risk factors, the MHRA said.

Earlier this month, the MHRA warned that with many women purchasing the drugs online they may not be aware that they may reduce the effectiveness of oral contraception.

In particular, women taking tirzepatide (Mounjaro), should also use condoms if they are on oral contraception and the weight loss medicines must not be taken during pregnancy, the regulator warned.

Related Article: Multiple chronic illnesses could double risk of depression

This article was initially published by our sister publication Pulse.