Words explained

GLP-1 words and abbreviations, in plain English

Starting a GLP-1 medicine can come with a lot of new words. Here’s what they mean, without the jargon. The same list is in the app under Settings, then Words Explained. If anything about your own treatment is unclear, your doctor, nurse or pharmacist is always the best person to ask.

Your medicine · Injections · Units and readings · People and places · Where the medicine information comes from · The app and your files

Your medicine

GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1): A hormone your gut makes after you eat. GLP-1 medicines work in a similar way: they help you feel full sooner and help control blood sugar.
GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide): Another hormone your gut makes after eating. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) acts on both GIP and GLP-1.
Generic name: The name of the medicine itself, such as semaglutide or tirzepatide. Also called the active ingredient.
Brand name: The name a manufacturer gives its product, such as Ozempic or Wegovy (both semaglutide). Different brands can contain the same medicine.
Dose steps (titration): Starting a medicine at a low dose and stepping up gradually, often every four weeks, so your body can get used to it. Your prescriber decides the steps.
Maintenance dose: The dose you stay on once the dose steps are done. Not the same as weight maintenance (see below).
Weight maintenance: Keeping your weight steady within a range, often after reaching a goal. In GLPMGR it's an optional card that shows your recent average next to a range you choose.
Half-life: How long it takes for the amount of a medicine in your body to fall by half. It's why some GLP-1 medicines are taken once a week and others daily.
Estimated medication level: GLPMGR's rough picture of how much medicine may be in your body between doses, worked out from the doses you log and the medicine's typical half-life. It's an estimate, not a blood test.
Dose cycle: The days from one dose to the next. GLPMGR can show how your weigh-ins, symptoms, check-ins or glucose readings tend to look on each day after a dose, from your own logs.
Side effect: An unwanted effect of a medicine. With GLP-1 medicines, feeling sick, diarrhoea, constipation and tiredness are among the common ones, and most stomach side effects happen while the dose is being stepped up. Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist about any that worry you.
Compounded medicine: A medicine made up by a pharmacy rather than a manufacturer's licensed product. The manufacturer's instructions don't cover it, so GLPMGR doesn't show injection areas for it.
Oral: Taken by mouth, as a tablet. Rybelsus and the Wegovy pill are semaglutide as a tablet; Foundayo (orforglipron) is a different GLP-1 medicine that only comes as a tablet.

Injections

Pen: A pre-filled injection device. Some pens hold one dose, others several.
Vial: A small bottle of medicine that's drawn up with a syringe.
Subcutaneous: Under the skin, into the layer of fat just beneath it. GLP-1 injections are subcutaneous.
Injection site: The area of the body where you inject, such as the stomach area, thigh or upper arm. Each medicine's leaflet lists where it can be injected.
Abdomen: The stomach area. Leaflets often say to keep a small distance from the belly button.
Rotation: Changing where you inject from one dose to the next, as your medicine's leaflet describes.
Body map: GLPMGR's drawing of the injection areas your medicine lists, shaded to show where you've injected before. It never suggests where to inject next.

Units and readings

mg (milligram): A thousandth of a gram. GLP-1 doses are measured in mg, such as 0.25 mg or 2.4 mg.
ml (millilitre): A thousandth of a litre. Used for water and liquid medicine.
kg, lb and st (kilograms, pounds and stones): Units for weight. 1 stone is 14 pounds, and 1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds. Choose yours in Settings.
g (gram): Used for protein. Food labels show protein in grams per portion or per 100 g.
Blood glucose: The amount of sugar in your blood, sometimes called blood sugar. Some people measure it with a finger-prick meter or a sensor.
mmol/L (millimoles per litre): One of the two units for blood glucose. It's the one used in the UK; other countries differ, so check which your meter or clinic uses.
mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre): The other unit for blood glucose, used in the US and many other countries, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Brazil (Germany uses both). 1 mmol/L is about 18 mg/dL.
CGM (continuous glucose monitor): A small sensor worn on the skin that measures glucose throughout the day. Many share readings with Apple Health.
Your usual (weight): A smoothed line through your weigh-ins that evens out day-to-day ups and downs, such as water or a big meal, so the overall direction is easier to see. On the charts it's the thin dashed line.
BMI: Body mass index: your weight compared with your height (kilograms divided by height in metres, squared). Doctors use it alongside other measures. GLPMGR shows the number and how it has changed, without labelling it.
Waist-to-height ratio: Your waist measurement divided by your height, in the same units. Some doctors use it alongside BMI. GLPMGR shows it when you've entered both.
Body fat: The share of your weight that is fat, as a percentage. Smart scales estimate it, and the reading moves with how much water you're carrying, so the change over weeks means more than one day's number.
Lean mass: Everything in your body that isn't fat: muscle, bone, organs and water. Smart scales estimate it; GLPMGR shows it when your scale, or your own entries, include it.
Smart scale: A bathroom scale that sends your weight, and often body fat and lean mass, to Apple Health. GLPMGR can read those from Health if you turn it on.

People and places

Prescriber: The doctor, nurse or pharmacist who prescribes your medicine.
Clinician: Any healthcare professional involved in your care, such as a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or dietitian.
GP (general practitioner): Your family doctor, in the UK and some other countries.
Dietitian: A qualified healthcare professional who gives advice about food and nutrition.

Where the medicine information comes from

PIL (patient information leaflet): The information sheet that comes in the box with your medicine, explaining how to use it. Also called the package leaflet.
Product information: The official, approved documents for a medicine, including the patient leaflet. GLPMGR's injection areas come from these.
SmPC (Summary of Product Characteristics): The detailed product information written for healthcare professionals in the UK and EU.
MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency): The UK government agency that approves and monitors medicines.
EMA (European Medicines Agency): The agency that assesses and monitors medicines for the European Union.
FDA (Food and Drug Administration): The US government agency that approves medicines.
DailyMed: A US government website that publishes the FDA-approved labels for medicines.

The app and your files

PDF (Portable Document Format): A document that looks the same on any device. GLPMGR's report for your doctor or nurse is a PDF.
CSV (comma-separated values): A simple spreadsheet file that opens in Numbers, Excel or Google Sheets.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation): The file format of GLPMGR's full backup. It's locked with your password, and you restore it in GLPMGR rather than opening it yourself.
Apple Health: Apple's Health app, which can share information such as weight or blood glucose between apps. GLPMGR only uses it if you turn it on.
Face ID and Touch ID: Unlocking with your face or fingerprint. GLPMGR can use them to keep your progress photos private.
Widget: A small panel on your Home Screen or Lock Screen that shows information from an app without opening it.
Live Activity: A live, updating panel on your Lock Screen. GLPMGR can show the countdown to your next dose.
Automatic backup: A password-locked copy of everything in GLPMGR, saved by itself daily or weekly to a folder you choose, such as iCloud Drive. You need the password to restore it.

Questions and answers · Injection sites by medicine