Weight-loss injections could reduce the risk of 42 conditions, including stroke and dementia, a new study has suggested.
Researchers in the clinical epidemiology centre at the University of Washington found that participants who used drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy were less likely to develop heart and blood disorders such as deep vein thrombosis and heart attack as well as substance use disorders.
‘This is new territory,’ said Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, lead researcher. ‘We wanted, literally, to map the landscape of benefits and risks. We only studied people with diabetes but there is no biologic or clinical reason to think that the beneficial and risk profiles would be very different in people without diabetes.’
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Researchers used the United States Department of Veterans Affairs data to find people with diabetes who used drugs containing glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA). These peptides stimulate insulin production and lower blood sugar levels. They were originally developed to treat diabetes. They are now also used as effective obesity treatments, slowing digestion, increasing feelings of fullness and reducing hunger.
The researchers compared people who used drugs with GLP-1RA to those who took other standard diabetes medications to see what impact the newer class of treatments had on 175 illnesses and health conditions. People taking the drugs were 13% less likely to develop substance-use disorders, 18% less likely to have schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders and 9% less likely to have a heart attack.
However, the study, published in Nature Medicine, also associated the use of GLP-1RAs with an increased risk of health issues including gastrointestinal conditions such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, low blood pressure, fainting and arthritis.
Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories at the University of Cambridge said the results were ‘reassuring’ as it provided evidence that these drugs were safe to use in the long term.
However, he also noted that the data should be ‘interpreted very cautiously’.
‘The people studied have not been randomly allocated to GLP1 receptor agonist treatment, so any difference between those taking and not taking the class of drug could potentially be attributable to factors other than the drug.’
The authors of the study acknowledged that while the findings help to identify the ‘broad health effects of GLP-1RA,’ further research is needed to have conclusive evidence. They added the trials should include diverse cohorts, as data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs is predominantly from older white men.