Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we feature a real world study that found weight-loss surgery is more effective for shedding pounds and keeping them off than widely used GLP-1 drugs. We also highlight early data on two potentially useful diagnostic techniques - one for detecting damage caused by liver transplants and another that may identify a risk of developing diabetes. 

Today's issue of Health Rounds is our only one for this week, as Reuters will observe Juneteenth on Thursday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans. We'll be back next Tuesday with news from the upcoming American Diabetes Association meeting in Chicago.

In breaking news, see these stories from our Reuters journalists: Judge deems Trump's NIH grant cuts illegal; US FDA to shorten review time for drug developers; fired members say Kennedy's vaccine panel shake-up weakens US immunization program and US CDC official in charge of COVID, RSV data resigns ahead of vaccine meeting.

PLUS: UK parliament votes to repeal Victorian-era abortion law; US pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs and White House 'MAHA' efforts need farm industry input..

Soaring temperatures and oppressive humidity at the Club World Cup competition in southern California are fueling welfare concerns among players, coaches, and fans, Reuters reports.

Bariatric surgeries led to about five-times more weight loss than weekly injections of popular GLP-1 drugs in patients with severe obesity, according to data from a real-world comparison study presented on Tuesday at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery scientific meeting in Washington.

“Clinical trials show weight loss between 15% to 21% for GLP-1s, but this study suggests that weight loss in the real world is considerably lower even for patients who have active prescriptions for an entire year," study leader Dr. Avery Brown of NYU Langone Health said in a statement.

Researchers reviewed records of 38,545 patients who were prescribed injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide between 2018 and 2024 and 12,540 patients who underwent bariatric surgery during the same period. Everyone started the study with a body mass index of at least 35, which is considered severe obesity.

Semaglutide is the main ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, while tirzepatide is the main ingredient in Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro.

At three years after undergoing sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass or starting the drugs, patients who underwent surgery had lost on average 24% of their starting weight, compared to about 5% for similar patients who used the drugs for at least six months and about 7% for those who took them for a year.

Brown noted that as many as 70% of GLP-1 patients may discontinue treatment within one year.

“While both patient groups lose weight, metabolic and bariatric surgery is much more effective and durable,” ASMBS President Dr. Ann M. Rogers, who was not involved in the study, said in a statement.

“Those who get insufficient weight loss with GLP-1s or have challenges complying with treatment due to side effects or costs, should consider bariatric surgery as an option, or even in combination,” she said.

An experimental blood test can help surgeons catch and identify problems with newly transplanted livers at early stages, researchers say.

It’s not unusual for transplanted organs and recipients’ nearby tissues to sustain damage during the transplantation process. Hints of problems will show up later in routine blood tests, but identifying the precise site of the damage often requires costly imaging studies and surgical biopsies, according to a report published on Tuesday in Nature Communications.

The new test works by picking up DNA fragments left behind in the blood by dying cells. The chemical signatures on these DNA fragments can be used to identify the original cell type and where it came from, with precise detail, the researchers found.

If you can determine which part of the liver is injured - for example, the bile ducts, or the blood vessels - "you could provide a more personalized treatment approach that leads to better care for the patient,” study leader Dr. Alexander Kroemer of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC said in a statement.

In addition to being faster and less invasive than a traditional biopsy, the blood test is also potentially more accurate, because biopsies only sample a few spots in the liver and might miss the site of the problem, he added.

Georgetown has filed patent applications on the technology, and the research team is seeking partners to commercialize the test.

Ultrasound exams of thigh or shoulder muscles can detect insulin resistance at its earliest stages, researchers reported in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

“We perform a large number of shoulder ultrasounds and noticed that many patients' muscles appear unusually bright,” study leader Dr. Steve Soliman of the University of Michigan said in a statement.