How GLP-1s are reshaping America’s obesity problem
Yahoo Finance Video and Josh Lipton
Sat, August 29, 2026 at 2:45 AM GMT+5:30
As GLP-1 weight-loss drugs continue to gain in popularity as a form of obesity treatment, Wells Fargo industry insights head Robin Wenzel relays how American patients are benefiting from GLP-1 usage
00:00Robin
Here in the US, we have about 40% of adults diagnosed with obesity. and about 10% of that is diagnosed as severely obese. So this is a baseline. This is not an outlier. And much of our <a href="https://healthylife7.com/waist-size-reveals-health-risks-that-bmi-can-miss/” title=”Waist size reveals health risks that BMI can miss”>health care system is really built around treating and managing those patients. So when we look at GLP-1s, which as we know have grown significantly in recent years and are incredibly effective with weight loss
00:27Robin
That’s naturally having an impact on the health care systems, hospitals, treatments of these patients
00:41Josh
If GOP ones then, Robin, uh let’s pull on that thread. Let’s say they work as advertised and millions of Americans take these new medicines and they lose weight. What are the some of the, I guess the business implications of that, Robin?
01:03Robin
We’re learning so much, Josh, and I’m going to start with actually gastric bypass surgery, a really effective way for people to rapidly lose some weight and safely in many cases for these patients. So, what we’re seeing that between 2022 and 2024, we saw an over 30% reduction in gastric bypass surgeries. At the same time that we saw GLP’s increased by 140%. So there’s some real evidence of the type of impact that we’re seeing. I will add though that it’s a bit nuanced. So there is a segment of the population that couldn’t otherwise qualify for these surgeries. So these drugs are really serving as a pharmaceutical off ramp to help them lose the weight to get to a healthy BMI, so they can qualify for the surgery. Conversely, they work as a great preventative towards avoiding obesity as well as bringing that weight down. So some people could avoid surgery altogether thanks to these drugs.
02:22Josh
So it’s nuanced. on the flip side, Robin, broad strokes, who would potentially benefit? Who who potentially wins from this trend?
02:37Robin
Obviously the patient wins from, you know, losing the weight. Um but when we look at the healthcare industry and hospitals, I think those that take a holistic approach to healthcare and managing these patients. One of the other things we’ve seen is that the rate of adverse cardiovascular events has dropped by about 20%. That was shown in the select files. What that means is fewer heart attacks, fewer strokes. So when we look at health cares, hospitals that take a holistic view, they’re managing the weight loss, they’re managing the diabetes. They’re looking at the cardio metabolic benefits from these drugs and taking a holistic approach to treating the patients, that’s where we see real opportunity.
