Semaglutide—the diabetes and weight-loss drug known by brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy—is continuing to show its potential to treat a wide range of other conditions.
While recent studies have revealed that these drugs may help stop opioid addiction, smoking, and even help people live longer, a new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association now also links semaglutide to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine analyzed three years of electronic records of nearly one million Americans with type 2 diabetes. They compared patients using semaglutide programs—a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist—to those prescribed one of seven other anti-diabetic drugs, including metformin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), and other GLP-1RAs (which mimic the effects of GLP-1s). Patients prescribed semaglutide had a 40% to 70% reduced risk of first-time Alzheimer’s diagnosis, compared to other antidiabetic medications.
“The result is what we expected,” Rong Xu, biomedical informatics professor at Case Western Reserve University and lead researcher on the study, tells Fortune.
Given other studies that show semaglutide can help reduce inflammation in the body, prevent neuron damage, promote weight loss, control diabetes, and prevent cardiovascular disease—in addition to helping curb the urge to smoke and drink—Xu says the drug is already lowering risk factors for Alzheimer’s.
“If we can target these risk factors…semaglutide can be beneficial in preventing or slowing down Alzheimer’s disease symptoms or development,” Xu says.
Xu makes it clear that this study wasn’t meant to examine whether semaglutide lowers the risk for Alzheimer’s in people without diabetes.
“Diabetes itself is a risk factor [for Alzheimer’s],” she says. Because of that, Xu and her team wanted to see if people at heightened risk—those who have diabetes—would have better outcomes with semaglutide versus other diabetes medications.
Researchers can’t say that semaglutide does lower Alzheimer’s risk, only that there is a link. More research is needed.
But Xu is also optimistic for what these study findings might mean for people currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She’d like to see if semaglutide could improve outcomes or have a therapeutic effect on those currently managing Alzheimer’s symptoms.
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