excellus bcbs glp 1 coverage Beyond the Buzz: Understanding the GLP-1 Trend Beyond the Buzz: Understanding the

Rapid weight loss from any cause, including these medications carries away a meaningful fraction of lean muscle mass along with adipose tissue, which is the opposite of the metabolic goal and especially consequential as patients age and frailty and fall risk climb

Visible callus enhancement on imaging typically appears between weeks two and four

doi:10.1111/and.13064

Oral meds at their currently available doses have typically ranged from 5%-7%, though newer studies with higher doses of oral semaglutide are showing results in the 10%-12% range over 68 weeks. So while injections still lead, oral GLP-1 medications are evolving quickly

Proper needle depth is criticalthe needle should penetrate only into subcutaneous tissue, not muscle

Across GLP-1 subtypes, we observe that much of the increase in prescriptions is driven by semaglutide and tirzepatide, which aligns with the dates of their FDA approvals (Charts 3 and 4)