Ozempic and different GLP-1 medicine have a spread of unwanted effects and advantages that researchers are analysing.Credit score: Steve Christo/Corbis by way of Getty
Blockbuster weight problems medicine resembling Ozempic have been celebrated for his or her skill to deal with weight reduction and a stunning vary of different circumstances, from coronary heart points to Parkinson’s illness. Now, an evaluation of knowledge from practically 2 million individuals is revealing new insights into the consequences of those medicines — together with the dangers they pose.
The findings, printed in Nature Drugs on 20 January1, affirm that these medicine, referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, provide extra than simply weight-loss advantages. However the work highlights newly acknowledged dangers of the medicines, together with an elevated probability of growing arthritis and a probably lethal situation referred to as pancreatitis.
Some researchers say the examine lacks sufficient element to attract stable conclusions about advantages and dangers. “It’s one factor for a profit or hurt to be ‘related’ with use of GLP-1, it’s one other factor if it adjustments the chance an ideal deal,” says Randy Seeley, an weight problems specialist on the College of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who wasn’t concerned within the analysis.
“However, I feel that is the sort of knowledge that can assist information real-world use of those medicine,” says Seeley, who has consulted and obtained funding from corporations growing weight problems medicine.
Danger evaluation
The examine centered GLP-1 receptor agonists, together with semaglutide, which is offered as Ozempic to deal with diabetes and is now broadly prescribed for weight reduction.
“However nobody had comprehensively investigated the effectiveness and dangers of GLP-1 receptor agonists throughout all doable well being outcomes,” says Ziyad Al-Aly, a physician-scientist on the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Well being Care System in Missouri, who led the work.
Over about 3.5 years, Al-Aly and his colleagues tracked greater than 200,000 individuals with diabetes on GLP-1 medicine and about 1.7 million individuals with diabetes utilizing different blood-sugar-lowering medicines. They tracked the consequences of GLP-1 medicine on 175 well being circumstances.
In contrast with different diabetes medicines, GLP-1 medicine had been linked to a decrease threat of dozens of circumstances, together with coronary heart illness, stroke and kidney illness. In addition they lowered the chance of psychotic problems by 18%, Alzheimer’s illness by 12%, and dependancy problems by a mean of 13%.
“What stood out to me is a constant impact on dependancy problems,” Al-Aly says. As a result of GLP-1 medicine act on mind areas concerned in reward and impulse management, he provides, they could assist cut back cravings for tobacco, alcohol, hashish, and opioids.
However the examine discovered dangers related to the GLP-1 use. For instance, these medicine had been related to an 11% enhance in arthritis threat and a 146% greater threat of pancreatitis — an irritation of the pancreas that may result in life-threatening problems. These are newly highlighted dangers, says Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist on the College of Toronto in Canada.
