New Scientist
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy reduce the risk of 42 conditions, such as heart disease and dementia, for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity. While they offer significant benefits, they also come with risks like nausea and kidney stones. The effects on healthy individuals, however, remain unclear.
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy lower the risk of 42 conditions
Author: Carissa Wong
DRUGS like Ozempic, called GLP-1 agonists, carry more benefits than risks when taken for their approved uses, according to an analysis of their effects on 175 conditions. The same may not be true for people taking the drugs for other uses, however.
“In this new land of GLP-1, we wanted to really map the benefits and risks for all conditions that might be plausibly linked,” says Ziyad Al-Aly at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.
The drugs are best known for helping people control type 2 diabetes and treating obesity. They mimic a hormone in the body, GLP-1, that lowers blood sugar levels and makes people feel fuller for longer. Dozens of studies suggest GLP-1 agonists may also cut the risk of other conditions, from heart disease to dementia.
To investigate further, Al-Aly and his colleagues examined the health records of more than 200,000 people with diabetes who took GLP-1 agonists in addition to their standard treatment over a four-year period. They also looked at 1.2 million people with diabetes who only received standard care across the same period, and assessed the risks of both groups developing 175 different health conditions.
People with diabetes who took GLP-1 agonists had a lower risk of heart attack
The team found that those who took GLP-1 agonists had a lower risk of 42 conditions. For instance, their risk of heart attacks was reduced by 9 per cent and their risk of dementia dropped by 8 per cent. The odds of this group having suicidal thoughts or substance-use disorders also decreased by around a tenth – even when the team accounted for factors that could affect the results, such as participants’ age, sex and income levels (Nature Medicine, doi.org/g82hpt).
There were downsides for the people taking GLP-1 drugs, however. They were more likely to experience known side effects including nausea and vomiting, along with others not described before. These include a 15 per cent higher risk of kidney stones and more than double the risk of an inflamed pancreas, or drug-induced pancreatitis. In total, there was a higher risk of 19 conditions.
Why these drugs affect such a wide range of conditions is still unclear. “They’re reducing obesity, which is sort of the mother of all ills – you treat it and subsequently get benefit in the heart, the kidney, the brain and everywhere else,” says Al-Aly. They also dampen organ- damaging inflammation and seem to target parts of the brain related to addiction, he says.
Overall, the research provides reassurance that the benefits of GLP-1 agonists outweigh the risks, at least for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity. “There are no red flags for this group,” says Stefan Trapp at University College London, who has worked with an obesity-drug firm.
But for those without these conditions, such as people without obesity buying the drugs to lose weight, the picture may differ. “We have no idea if the benefits will outweigh the risks,” says Daniel Drucker at the University of Toronto.
Credits: TCA, LLC.