By
- Julie Washington, cleveland.com
- cleveland.com express desk
Ohio — Caloric restriction, physiological stress and nutrient deficiencies during the use of GLP-1 drugs may lead to hair loss, a new study suggests
Although the absolute risk is low, awareness of this potential effect may help adults with type 2 diabetes who use a GLP-1 drug to manage it make treatment decisions, researchers said
The findings add to growing evidence linking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications — such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound — with hair loss
Compared with other diabetic medications, GLP-1 drug use was associated with a higher overall risk of alopecia over an average follow-up of 2.7 years, researchers said
The study was recently published in the journal BMJ
“Although the absolute risk of clinically recorded alopecia associated with GLP-1 use is low, the observed association may still influence patients’ satisfaction, adherence and decisions to start or continue therapy,” wrote lead researcher Yong Chen of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia
When people taking GLP-1 drugs restrict their caloric intake, it can lead to physiological stress and nutritional deficiencies in iron, zinc and biotin, which can disrupt hair growth, researchers said. This suggests that hair loss is affected by metabolic changes, and is not a direct side effect of the drug, the study said
Researchers looked for patients with non-scarring alopecia,a type of hair loss where hair follicles remain intact, so hair regrowth is often achievable
It is frequently triggered by rapid weight loss and calorie restriction, and is typically reversible. Recognizing this distinction can help clinicians reassure patients, researchers said
In this trial, Chen and colleagues extracted electronic health record data from Penn Medicine spanning January 2019 through September 2024. They identified adults with type 2 diabetes who were newly prescribed GLP-1 drugs, and those taking other types of drugs that lower blood sugar
Because the analysis relied on diagnostic codes to identify alopecia cases, milder or unrecorded instances of hair thinning were likely missed, researchers acknowledged
Previous studies have also suggested a link between popular weight-loss and diabetes medications with hair loss
A 2025 studysuggested that patients on GLP-1 medication had significantly higher rates of non-scarring hair loss overall, when compared with a matched group of individuals not on the drugs
This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff
