pharmacology

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, used to control obesity and type 2 diabetes, are associated with changes in food purchasing in favour of healthier options. This result, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, was obtained by analysing nearly two million shopping receipts from more than 1,100 participants in Denmark. Those who started treatment with GLP-1 drugs began to make purchases with fewer calories, sugars, saturated fats and carbohydrates, along with a modest increase in protein content. A decrease in the purchase of ultra-processed foods was also observed.

The use of ADHD medication increased ‘substantially’ in five European countries between 2010 and 2023 — including Spain — especially among adult women, according to a study funded by the European Medicines Agency. In Spain (based on data from the SIDIAP in Catalonia), the median age of people using these drugs during the study period was 14, similar to Germany and the United Kingdom, but younger than in Belgium (19) and the Netherlands (20). One-third of these people are women, and one-quarter had previously been prescribed antidepressants. The analysis is based on prescription data for five medicines and is published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe.

Several recent studies had concluded that the risk of gastric cancer doubled with the use of drugs such as omeprazole – proton pump inhibitors. A new study published in The BMJ states that there is no association between prolonged use of these drugs and the risk of gastric adenocarcinoma. The research used prospective data from registries in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden between 1994 and 2020. The study included more than 17,000 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (other than cardia cancer) who had been exposed to these drugs for more than one year.

There is no link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or intellectual disability among children, according to a meta-analysis published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health. 

Stopping weight loss drugs is followed by weight regain and reversal of beneficial effects on markers of cardiovascular and metabolic health, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, according to a meta-analysis published by The BMJ. The research includes 37 studies published up to February 2025 involving more than 9,300 people. 

Recycling household PET waste—such as plastic bottles—using a new chemical process could generate a compound useful for synthesizing drugs, according to a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The team discovered that, thanks to semi-hydrogenation, the waste could be broken down into a compound called EHMB, which is key to producing the cancer drug imatinib, a chemotherapy drug called procarbazine, and the insecticide fenpyroximate.

A meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal concludes that the most effective way to discontinue antidepressant treatment in people with remitting depression is to gradually reduce the dose in combination with psychological therapy. Furthermore, this strategy proved to be just as effective in preventing relapses into depression as continuing medication. The study was based on data from more than 17,000 adults with depression and anxiety in remission, although the evidence for the latter disorder was not as robust. 

According to a study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum, the use of the benzodiazepine lorazepam by the character Victoria Ratliff in the series The White Lotus was associated in the United States with an increase in Google searches for this medication, including queries about how to obtain it online. The series generated 1.6 million more searches than usual over a 12-week period. Although the study reflects searches for information and not actual consumption, the abuse of anti-anxiety drugs is a fact: illegal sales of benzodiazepines have increased in the United States, and Spain leads the rankings in terms of consumption.

A meta-analysis concludes that the use of beta-blockers is not necessary in patients who have suffered a heart attack but have normal cardiac function. The research, coordinated in Spain by the CNIC, brings together data from five clinical trials and 17,801 patients. One of these trials, REBOOT, already showed that patients who did not have reduced cardiac function after a heart attack did not benefit from treatment with beta blockers. According to this recent meta-analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association Congress in New Orleans (USA), the use of these drugs does not reduce mortality, reinfarction or heart failure in this group of patients.

Different antidepressant drugs cause different side effects in the body, in parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure or body weight, according to a meta-analysis published by The Lancet. For example, agomelatine administration is associated with weight loss, while other molecules such as maprotiline are associated with weight gain. The research brings together 151 studies and 17 reports from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including more than 58,000 people and comparing 30 antidepressant drugs with a placebo.