A gene test might serve as the initial stride towards personalized medicine for addressing obesity.

The efficacy of popular GLP-1 medications for weight loss presents a significant enigma: while some individuals experience substantial weight reduction-upwards of 20% of their initial body weight-others observe minimal changes on the scale.

Research indicates that approximately 1 in 7 individuals using semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy for weight loss, for over a year fail to shed at least 5% of their starting weight, suggesting ineffectiveness of the drug for these individuals.

Recent findings propose that the explanation might lie within an individual's genetic makeup. A new study suggests that a genetic risk score could offer insights, potentially assisting individuals in determining their likelihood of success with injected weight loss medications.

Dr. Andres Acosta, a gastroenterologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic involved in the test's development, stated, "We believe that the test could elucidate who will experience weight loss, enabling us to predict, with 95% accuracy, those who will achieve more than a 5% reduction through this genetic test."