Samsung Health logo / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is teaming up with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers to study whether its Galaxy Watch can help patients taking popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs avoid one of the treatment’s most troubling side effects: muscle loss.
The Korean technology giant said Thursday that it is conducting a joint study with the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, widely known as MGH, to track physical changes in patients using GLP-1 medications through data collected by the Galaxy Watch8 and Samsung Health platform.
As GLP-1 drugs gain explosive popularity worldwide for obesity treatment and chronic disease management, doctors have increasingly raised concerns about side effects including muscle reduction, digestive complications and rapid weight gain after treatment ends.
The study will examine whether daily biometric data collected through wearable devices can help patients preserve muscle mass during treatment.
Researchers plan to divide 100 adults beginning GLP-1 therapy into two groups.
Participants in the experimental group will wear the Galaxy Watch 8 and receive body composition monitoring, physical activity tracking and personalized exercise guidance.
Their results will then be compared with a standard treatment group following only conventional GLP-1 care guidelines.
The study will also use dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, known as DXA scans, to precisely measure body composition changes and verify whether smartwatch-assisted care improves muscle preservation.
Melissa Putman, director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor affiliated with Harvard Medical School, said muscle loss remains a common challenge for many patients taking GLP-1 medications.
Source: Korea Times News
