Overview
- The study published June 25, 2026, in JAMA Otolaryngology examined TriNetX electronic records and reported diagnosis rates of 0.37% for GLP‑1 users versus 0.22% for matched non‑users, a 48% relative increase.
- Researchers compared two matched cohorts of roughly 430,000 adults with type 2 diabetes drawn from more than 170 health systems and tracked new reports of anosmia, parosmia and parageusia over months to years.
- Authors note biological plausibility because GLP‑1 and its receptors are present in the olfactory bulb and taste pathways, but they stress the analysis is observational and cannot prove cause and effect.
- Clinicians and experts warn that confounders such as weight loss, coding biases in electronic health records and inability to measure symptom severity could explain some or all of the association.
- Despite the small absolute risk, doctors are advised to ask patients about smell and taste changes and researchers say monitoring, mechanistic work and prospective trials are the next steps given wide use of GLP‑1 drugs for diabetes and obesity.