Pharmacology & biology

Gastric emptying

Also known as: delayed gastric emptying · gastroparesis

The rate at which food leaves the stomach; GLP-1 drugs slow it, which drives both satiety and nausea.

In plain terms

Slowed gastric emptying is not a side effect of GLP-1 drugs so much as a mechanism of them. It is also the origin of nausea, vomiting, and the anaesthesia guidance now issued around these drugs, because a stomach that is still full poses an aspiration risk during sedation.

Why it matters

Tell any anaesthetist or surgeon that you are taking a GLP-1 drug. This is not a cosmetic disclosure.

Compounds where this comes up

Guides that use this term

What happens when you stop a GLP-1

One year after semaglutide was withdrawn, participants had regained two-thirds of the weight they lost, and their cardiometabolic gains reverted. The withdrawal trials, read honestly.

Educational reference only. Pepperz does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, prescribing guidance, or dosing recommendations.