Weight-loss jabs could be linked to lower risk of several conditions including stroke and dementia
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Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy could boost health in numerous other ways, new research suggests, such as lowering the risk of stroke and dementia.
Researchers used US Department of Veterans Affairs data to find people with diabetes who used drugs containing GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) – which are in appetite suppressant injections – and compared them to people who took other standard diabetes medications to see what impact the newer class of treatments had on 175 other illnesses and health conditions.
The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine this week, pointed towards a significant increase in heart health with reduced risks of stroke, clotting disorders, high blood pressure and heart failure among people taking the new jabs, as well as reduced risk of alcohol and drug abuse.
Other experts have warned more work is required to confirm these added health benefits of increasingly popular weight-loss drugs, but say the research importantly shows these medications are safe to use in the longer term.
Using a median of three and a half years of data, the team found a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s among the cohort taking the new drugs compared to those on the standard treatments, and a reduced risk of schizophrenia and suicidal thoughts.
The scientists believe these benefits are not just restricted to people with diabetes, and think they could also be found in those using the jabs to tackle obesity.
“This is new territory,” said lead researcher Dr Ziyad al-Aly, clinical epidemiologist at Washington University.
The team did however find an increased risk of other disorders, including gastrointestinal issues and arthritic conditions.
Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, professor of clinical biochemistry and medicine and director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories at the University of Cambridge, said studies like this one “have to 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,” he said, noting the data would be “heavily skewed” to older white men given the data came from a veterans database.
He added: “That said, the study provides useful reassurance about the safety of this class of drugs. The expected benefits on heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular and most kidney diseases are clearly seen.
“There is also a reassuring reduction in the incidence of several cancers, including pancreatic. Importantly, as there has been discussion in the media about possible adverse effects of the drugs on mental health, the group taking the drug had a lower incidence of schizophrenia, alcohol and drug use disorders, and less suicidal ideation.”
Overall, Prof O’Rahilly said the results were reassuring on the risk-benefit ratio for long-term use of GLP-1RAs in people with diabetes.
“Future studies of people treated with these drugs for obesity, without accompanying diabetes, are awaited with interest,” he said.
Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine and honorary consultant at the University of Glasgow, said because the study was observational, it “cannot be considered anywhere near definitive”, but pointed out a few of the suggested benefits including reduced risk of severe heart diseases had been confirmed in randomised trials.
“[The study is] interesting but the findings fall well below the level of evidence that comes from gold standard placebo-controlled randomised trials,” he said.
“Fortunately, large-scale randomised trials with GLP-1RA-based therapies that yield greater weight loss are ongoing and several will report out in the next one to four years. Such trials will lead us much closer to the truth.”
