Education
Plain-language education pages for Physique MD patients — written and medically reviewed by Leena Almarzouqi, MD, MPH. Each guide goes deep: what the treatment is, how it works, the doses, what the studies actually found, the side effects in full, and what the FDA label warns about. Educational only — not medical advice.
GLP-1 Medications: The Complete Guide
GLP-1 medicines copy a natural gut hormone that tells your brain you are full, slows the stomach, and steadies blood sugar. This guide explains how the whole class works, who these medicines are for, how doses are raised step by step, and what results look like in the real trials — including the heart-outcome study that showed about 20% fewer major cardiovascular events on semaglutide, and the sleep-apnea results for tirzepatide. It also covers the serious warnings honestly: the boxed warning about thyroid tumors, pancreatitis, stomach paralysis, and when we do not prescribe. Start here, then go deeper into the medicine you are considering.
Semaglutide (Ozempic® / Wegovy®)
The full semaglutide story: the STEP trials (about 15% average weight loss), the tablet version and its strict empty-stomach rule, and the complete dose ladder from 0.25 mg up to 2.4 mg weekly. Side effects are covered the way the FDA label reports them — nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and reflux with their real percentages — plus the rarer risks patients ask about: gallbladder problems, kidney injury from dehydration, eye complications in diabetes, and the vision concern (NAION) that European regulators have weighed in on. Includes what to do about a missed dose, how the medicine is stored, and why it must be stopped at least two months before a planned pregnancy.
Tirzepatide (Mounjaro® / Zepbound®)
Tirzepatide works on two hormone pathways at once (GLP-1 and GIP), and the SURMOUNT trials show the largest weight losses in this class — about 21% of body weight at the top dose, with more than half of patients losing at least 20%. This guide walks through the 2.5 mg to 15 mg dose ladder (and why 2.5 mg is only a starter), the head-to-head trial against semaglutide, the sleep-apnea approval, and the full side-effect picture from Eli Lilly’s label. One interaction every woman must know: tirzepatide can make birth-control pills less reliable for four weeks after starting and after every dose increase.
What Is Coming Next: GLP-1 Medicines in Clinical Trials
The next wave is already in large trials: retatrutide, a triple-hormone medicine that produced about 19–22% weight loss in Phase 3; amylin-based medicines such as petrelintide and CagriSema that may be gentler on the stomach; and monthly injections and daily pills in development. This page explains what phase trials mean, what the published numbers show so far, and why none of these can be prescribed yet — plus a plain warning about gray-market “research chemical” versions, which are not the real medicines.
Read about the medicines in trials →
Hair Loss: Why It Happens and What Actually Helps
Losing hair a few months after starting weight-loss treatment is common — and it is usually telogen effluvium, a temporary shedding triggered by rapid change, which typically settles within about six months. This guide explains how we find the real cause first (iron, thyroid, vitamin levels and more), what prescription-strength minoxidil can and cannot do, what the studies show for oral minoxidil, and the supplement myths — including why high-dose biotin gummies can distort your lab results and are dangerous around cats in minoxidil’s case. Hair is judged over 6 to 12 months, not weeks.
Wrinkle Treatment: What Prescription Skin Care Can (and Can’t) Do
The honest version of anti-aging skin care. Prescription tretinoin is the best-studied topical for fine lines and texture — and even its FDA labeling says it does not eliminate wrinkles or repair sun damage. This guide covers what the trials actually measured (about 25% improvement vs 12% on vehicle cream), how to start slowly at 0.025% without wrecking your skin barrier, why sunscreen is non-negotiable, who must not use retinoids (including anyone pregnant or planning), and the line topicals cannot cross: they cannot lift sagging or replace lost volume — for that, Dr. Leena refers patients to a trusted local specialist.
Read the wrinkle-treatment guide →
BHRT and Menopause: The FDA-Approved Options I Prescribe
Menopause is defined as 12 months without a period, at an average age of about 51 — and hormone therapy, started before 60 or within 10 years of menopause, has the best benefit-risk balance. This guide explains the two FDA-approved treatments Dr. Leena prescribes — the estradiol patch (which largely avoids the clot risk of pills) and oral micronized progesterone — with the trial numbers behind them. It includes the full Women’s Health Initiative story: the 2002 study that scared a generation off hormones, what it actually found, and why boxed warnings were removed in 2025–2026. Plus the birth-control-pill question (pills are stronger than hormone therapy, mask menopause, and hormone-therapy doses are not birth control) and Illinois’s 2026 law requiring coverage of menopause therapy.
Read the BHRT and menopause guide →
More topics are added as patients ask for them.
Educational only — not medical advice. Medically reviewed by Leena Almarzouqi, MD, MPH.