There's a separate study showing cartilage actually increased in a small arthritis group taking the first compound. Suggests a benefit that's not purely tied to shedding pounds with this drug class. From what I've personally experienced though, the weight loss itself seems to matter more, and a chunk of the pain relief gets canceled out by moving around more (basically, I'm dropping weight because I'm more active, but that extra activity makes my knees ache worse). Plenty of videos covering this research too if that's more your style, easy enough to find by searching the study title directly.