Samsung is using Galaxy Watch 8 to study what Ozempic, other GLP-1 drugs might secretly do to you

The Samsung Galaxy Watch offers a wider range of health metrics than most rivals in the Wear OS space. That’s one of the reasons why I also prefer the Galaxy Watch over the Pixel Watch. And Samsung now plans to use those markers to help prevent side effects in patients using Ozempic and other GLP-1 RA medications for weight loss.

Samsung has announced a joint research with the Diabetes Research Center (DRC) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to study weight loss trends with GLP-1 RA medications. While Samsung does not explicitly mention popular brand names, potentially to avoid legal issues, some of the popular ones include Ozempic and Mounjaro.

Although the GLP-1 RA class of drugs was primarily designed to help lower blood sugar in Type-2 diabetes, they’ve rapidly gained prominence across the world as effective treatments for obesity and aiding with weight loss without much physical activity, which are actually their side effects. However, since GLP-1 also leads to patients losing their appetite, it can often lead to sudden muscle loss, which can not only impact strength and mobility but also impair internal organs, including the heart, kidneys, liver, etc.

The clinical study, as per Samsung, will track rapid muscle mass loss among patients using GLP-1 drugs using the Galaxy Watch. It says the clinicians will closely monitor trends of body composition, which can be measured with Galaxy Watch 4 and later, along with the patient’s activity levels, to prevent excessive muscle loss during their weight loss treatment.

For the study, researchers at the Mass General teaching hospital will utilize Samsung’s latest (so far) Galaxy Watch 8 for “advanced predictive and preventative wellness,” Samsung says.

The researchers plan to enroll 100 adults undergoing GLP-1-induced weight-loss treatment, then split them into two test groups. One group will use the Galaxy Watch 8 to track their biomarkers and receive personalized training insights, while the control group will continue treatment without it. In the announcement, Samsung noted,

We’re interested in exploring how continuous data from a wearable device can provide invaluable insights into a patient’s activity levels, heart rate and body composition, giving clinicians a more holistic view of treatment impact and allowing for more timely, data-driven adjustments to their care plan.

While there’s no certainty, it is possible that Samsung uses these insights to bring the feature to a wider set of users.

In addition to measuring body composition, the Galaxy Watch is FDA-approved for detecting sleep apnea and arrhythmia. More recently, Samsung received approval to let users track their blood pressure directly on the Watch, though it must be calibrated with an actual BP monitor every month.