Antiemetic effect of acupressure wristbands for GLP-1 medication associated nausea

Background

Nausea is one of the most reported side effect of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1a). Current recommendations fall short in taming the symptoms, include antiemetic medication, behavior changes, GLP-1a dose adjustment, and often cause a disruption to treatment. Sea-Band® is a drug-free, class II FDA-cleared medical device for relief of nausea in motion sickness, morning sickness, chemotherapy and anesthesia induced nausea. The device is a set of soft, elastic, reusable acupressure wristbands (ACW) with a skin-facing plastic button worn below the wrist crease applying pressure at acupoint pericardium 6. We hypothesized that ACW was an effective tool for GLP-1a associated nausea.

Methods

This was a one-arm, open-label, non-randomized, prospective interventional study evaluating the antiemetic effect of ACW in non-pregnant adults on GLP-1as with nausea. GLP-1a were semaglutide or tirzepatide. Exclusion criteria were patients on GLP-1a without nausea, recent use of antiemetic medications, other nausea-related conditions, history of gastroparesis, and uncontrolled gastroesophageal reflux disease. Patients were shown how to properly place and use ACW at the onset of nausea and were followed weekly for 4 weeks. Follow-ups assessed frequency of nausea, ACW use frequency and duration, and change in nausea.

Results

359 episodes of nausea were recorded amongst 31 adult participants over 4 weeks. Adults, mean age 55, mean BMI 34, mean HbA1c 5.9 %, reported nausea over 80 % of the time on a weekly basis. ACW were used in all recorded episodes of nausea. Medication doses were kept stable throughout the duration of this study. Nausea relief was achieved within 5 min in one third of episodes, and in over 5 min but under 20 min in the remainder of the episodes. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the likelihood of nausea relief. A consistent rate of nausea relief over 80 % was observed during the study period, adjusting for the correlation between reduced nausea episodes and reduced episodes.

Conclusion

Although not a controlled trial, this pilot, proof of concept, pragmatic study suggests that ACW may offer a safe, self-administered, reusable, and drug-free option for managing GLP-1a associated nausea.ACW’s nausea reducing effect was seen in over 80 % of episodes, and remained consistent throughout the study period. One third of participants experienced relief within 5 min of wearing ACW in the first three weeks. Given the relatively small sample size of the population, further large-scale investigations are justified. Nausea is common in day-to-day real-world use of GLP-1as, and our results suggest that using ACW may provide a first-line therapeutic intervention used ad libitum to tame a disruptive symptom, improve day-to-day well-being, and positively impact a person’s treatment journey on GLP-1a.