What is the role of the rheumatologist in recommending and providing GLP-1 medications to their patients given the benefits across many disease domains including osteoarthritis?

Obesity has long been discussed in the literature as the most modifiable risk factor for knee osteoarthritis pain and progression, with a reduction in knee OA attributed to the decrease in mechanical load. But for the last decade, there has been much attention placed on the impact of metabolic facto...

I think there are many benefits. One is the decrease in weight. Weight does have a mechanical component, and it contributes to both inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis. More weight on the joints leads to more difficulty using the joints.

Additionally, as people lose weight, they often become m...

Rheumatologists frequently see overweight patients who come in for chronic knee pain during exercise, which, after clinical examination and X-rays, is diagnosed as osteoarthritis. However, it has been well demonstrated in the literature that weight loss is central to the treatment of osteoarthritis ...

As rheumatologists, I believe it is appropriate to discuss these agents with the patient, but I do not think we should assume that we have primary responsibility for prescribing them. While the evidence of benefit with GLP-1 agonists for arthritis is growing, these agents are not approved for our di...

As more evidence in favor of treating patients with rheumatic diseases and obesity with GLP-1 agonists emerges, rheumatologists will need to take a larger role in recommending and prescribing these medications to our patients. While there are no current FDA (or other agency) indications for GLP-1 ag...