Three new pieces of health research are drawing attention this week, and each one comes with a clear caution about how far the evidence goes. One study tests whether structured support can limit weight regain after people stop GLP-1 medications. Another finds that the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis affects muscle cells in a laboratory. A third review concludes that the evidence for medical cannabis as an insomnia treatment remains too uncertain to support firm conclusions. Structured Support May Soften Weight Regain After GLP-1 Drugs Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists can help people lose weight, but many users eventually stop taking them. Weight regain is common afterward, and it is a leading concern for people who discontinue the medications. A new study suggests that structured support, such as a wellness app, may help minimize the weight people regain shortly after they stop. The participants were people who had recently stopped GLP-1 medications after losing more than 10% of their body weight. Their average weight loss was just over 18%. Researchers divided the 39 participants into three groups and followed them for 4 months. The control group received the typical care for maintaining weight loss. The second group received medically tailored meals, which a dietitian prepared specifically for them, at ten meals each week. The third group used the app Noom for at least 15 minutes each day, which helps people manage overeating and “social and environmental eating cues.” The main focus was how well participants adhered to the two interventions and how satisfied they felt with them. Researchers also tracked how well each group maintained its weight loss and diet quality. Participants completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of the study, and the team collected weight data every 30 days and before the intervention began. Similar Perceptions, but a Difference in Weight Regained Participants in all three groups reported similar perceptions of how well they followed the recommendations. Their scores for effectiveness, convenience, and satisfaction also looked alike. Diet quality scores and perceptions of diet and health quality did not differ much either. The wellness app group did post slightly higher diet quality scores than the other two groups. The authors suggest this may point to a trend toward higher diet quality among app users. The clearest separation came in weight: participants who ate dietitian-developed meals or used the wellness app gained less weight than the control group. Cialis Shows Intriguing Effects on Muscle Cells in the Lab Researchers in Italy have found a potential association between the common erectile dysfunction drug Cialis (tadalafil) and muscle regeneration. The study, published in the journal Molecular Biology Reports, tested the drug on mouse muscle cells in a laboratory. Over seven days, the team looked at how the drug affected muscle cell growth, survival, and development. Tadalafil increased the number of muscle precursor cells, which play a role in the early stages of muscle formation, and helped more of them survive. The drug also showed signs of helping muscles repair themselves by encouraging growth and reducing cell death. Even so, tadalafil delayed the development of fully mature muscle cells. That result suggests the drug could create and maintain more cells involved in muscle regeneration. It does not indicate an increase in muscle size and function in humans. The researchers acknowledged two limits: the work used mouse models, so results may differ in people, and the short seven-day window leaves long-term effects unknown. Researchers and Outside Experts Urge Caution Study co-author Dr. Cristina Antinozzi, a researcher in the Endocrinology Unit at the University of Rome Foro Italico, said the findings represent an “encouraging look at how tadalafil might be repurposed to support muscle tissue repair and regeneration.” “While more work is needed, this research opens up exciting new possibilities for future therapeutic strategies in muscle recovery, though it also highlights the need to monitor how such mechanisms might be viewed or misused in sports and performance contexts,” she told Fox News Digital. Dr. Kien Vuu, a radiologist and founder of VuuMD Performance and Longevity in Los Angeles, did not take part in the study. He agreed that the work is an “intriguing early finding.” “In mouse muscle cells studied in a laboratory, tadalafil – the active ingredient in Cialis – helped muscle precursor cells grow and survive, but also delayed their maturation into muscle fibers,” he told Fox News Digital. “That’s a fascinating biological signal, but it’s far from proving that Cialis builds muscle or improves recovery in people,” Vuu said. Cochrane Review Finds Weak Evidence for Cannabis and Insomnia A new Cochrane review finds that existing evidence is too uncertain to determine whether medical cannabis improves sleep or daytime functioning in people with insomnia. Insomnia makes it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up feeling refreshed. It can severely affect quality of life and leave a person much more vulnerable to anxiety or depression over time. Current treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy and drugs such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, but their success varies. Interest in medical cannabis as an alternative has grown in recent years because of its reported sleep benefits. In clinical settings, it typically means controlled, tested ratios of THC and CBD in tablets, sprays, or oils. Its use for insomnia nonetheless remains contentious, and the evidence is limited. Researchers from the Cochrane Associate Centre at the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires and the University of Manitoba led the review. It included 9 studies involving 537 adults aged 18 to 76 who received treatment for insomnia. Most studies focused on primary insomnia rather than insomnia linked to other health conditions. Eight trials compared regulated medical cannabis with a placebo, and one compared it with the antidepressant amitriptyline. Little Benefit, More Mild Side Effects Compared with placebo, medical cannabis showed little to no clinically meaningful improvement in sleep quality and satisfaction, total sleep time, or daytime functioning. Participants taking it were substantially more likely to experience mild adverse events, such as dry mouth and dizziness. That finding rests on a small pool of studies. Medical cannabis somewhat improved quality of life, but the certainty of that result is very low. The pooled results were compatible with anything from a slight worsening to a large improvement. Poor trial quality pulled down the strength of the overall evidence, which leaves patients and clinicians without a reliable answer. What the Three Studies Mean Together Each study offers a useful signal, and each stops short of a final answer. The GLP-1 research points to practical support that may help people hold onto weight loss, though it involved just 39 participants over 4 months. The Cialis work reveals interesting laboratory activity in mouse cells, but it does not show that the drug builds muscle in humans. The Cochrane review shows that, for now, the evidence cannot confirm that medical cannabis helps people sleep. 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