The advent of newer drug treatments for schizophrenia in the 1990s brought benefits from less side effects affecting the nervous system, making these treatments easier to tolerate. However some of these drugs also brought an increased propensity for significant weight gain. Weight gain leads to a range of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease and osteoarthritis. Being overweight can also damage self-esteem and increase the stigma people with schizophrenia may experience. This may also cause people to stop their treatments with the risk of causing their psychiatric illness to relapse.
So far there remains no widely accepted consensus on how best to help people with schizophrenia to lose weight in spite of significant investment in research.
The glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist drug class (originally used to treat only people with type 2 diabetes) can help people to lose weight. The latest of these agents, are taken as a weekly self administered subcutaneous injection and clinical trials have demonstrated up to 20% weight or more on these treatments. In this symposium we will cover the experience of taking these agents from someone with lived experience, we will hear about the biology of these agents in relation to their effects on the central nervous system (CNS), their cardiovascular benefits and and also application of GLP-1 agonists for treating low mood and cognitive impairment
Learning objectives
By the end of this webinar you will:
- understand the biology of action of GLP-1 agonists in people with overweight and serious mental illness
- hear from a person with lived experience how GLP-1 agonist treatment has helped them
- understand why GLP-1 agonists are good for cardiovascular health
- appreciate why and how GLP-1 agonists can enable improvement in mood and cognition.
Speakers
Chair: Professor Adrian Heald, Salford Royal Hospital, Salford
Professor Adrian Heald, Salford Royal Hospital, Salford
Mr George Whitehead, Expert by Experience
Professor Gavin Reynolds, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
Professor Joergen Rungby, Steno Diabetes Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark
Availability
This webinar is part of the Congress webinar 2026 package. If you attended all four days of Congress, you will have access to these as part of your Congress package. Otherwise the Congress webinar 2026 package can be purchased below.
