As GLP-1s reshape America, questions and new uses emerge

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Hailed by some as miracle drugs, GLP-1s have surged in popularity in the past few years. An estimated one out of every eight Americans is now on some version of them and scientists continue to research new potential uses. But with that rapid expansion, there’s a growing list of questions and skeptics. William Brangham reports for our new series, GLP-1s: Reshaping America.

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But with that rapid expansion, there's a growing list of questions and skeptics.

The drugs are called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. Chances are, you have heard a lot about them, or at least some of their brand names.

Today, these drugs are best known for their ability to help people manage their diabetes and to lose weight, sometimes at eye-popping rates.

The drugs really do what they say they're going to do, and they do it very well.

Researchers first discovered the GLP-1 hormone decades ago. It helps regulate blood sugar by stimulating the body's release of insulin. In the 1990s, scientists realized that the venomous lizard the Gila monster produced a molecule very similar to GLP-1. That led to the development of the first GLP-1 drug to treat diabetes in humans.

Julia Belluz, Co-Author, "Food Intelligence": When we give people very high doses of synthetic GLP-1 in the form of these drugs, we get this array of astounding effects, from better managed blood sugar to weight loss, that we basically haven't seen outside of bariatric surgery.

The first GLP-1 specifically for weight loss was OKed in 2014. For a while, researchers thought the weight loss benefits of GLP-1s started in a person's gut.

But it turns out how they work for weight loss is quite different. The drugs actually work through the brain to reduce appetite and reduce this thing that a lot of people refer to now as food noise or cravings or preoccupation with food that so many people feel. And people eat less and end up losing weight as a result.

In some cases, patients can drop up to a quarter of their body weight. And doctors are seeing other benefits too, like reduced inflammation and improved cardiovascular health.