Well, everyone now knows of the incredible weight loss effect of these GLP-1 drugs, but some of the other results on addictions and the mind are surprising.
"A study by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the relationship between GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and 175 diseases and conditions supports a lot of what scientists already suspected about potential benefits, but contains a few surprises, too.
The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine and based on an analysis of medical records from about 2.5 million patients in the VA system, support the idea that the medications might be able to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease and who are suffering from substance abuse involving alcohol, cannabis and narcotics. The “discovery” analysis of the drugs involves delving into data to look for connections and is not meant to establish causal relationships, but instead to generate hypotheses.
The research is the first to attempt to comprehensively investigate the effects — both good and bad — of the drugs on the human body. It arrives at a time when anecdotal reports and small studies attesting to new effects of drugs sold under brand names such as Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound emerge regularly...
The research compared diabetes patients on Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs with people taking older treatments. The study also included subjects known as controls who did not have diabetes.
David Cummings, professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington, said he likes to think of database dives such as this as fishing expeditions. Cast a wide net, and you’ll probably get some statistical blips that end up having no meaning even as you get some telling hits.
“The surprising ones are cool because that gives you a new avenue to pursue,” he said.
Among the expected results: GLP-1 was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular, kidney and liver issues. On the negative side, it was linked to gastrointestinal issues such as reflux, headaches and pancreatitis.
Some unexpected findings include a suggestion that the drugs could help with blood clotting, respiration and infection.
“Those are very new, and I’d like to see more research there,” said Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
The data also appeared to support recent studies that found that suicidal thoughts were reduced by GLP-1 drugs rather than increased, as feared early on. Volkow said the signals suggesting a reduction in suicidality should be followed up, and wondered whether it might indicate that GLP-1 drugs dampen people’s stress responses, a finding in animal models.
The National Institutes of Health had been studying the impact of GLP-1 drugs on substance abuse even before the arrival of Ozempic, and Volkow said some clinicians have been prescribing them off-label already.
“The evidence is suggestive absolutely, but it’s not at the standard to very clearly say, ‘Let’s recommend this for a treatment,’” Volkow said.
Some scientists were puzzled by an increased signal of arthritis among patients taking the drugs. Cummings called that “very strange” because weight loss should ease arthritis symptoms.
Stanford cautioned that the study should be viewed within the context of the VA population, which tends to be older, less diverse and more male than the U.S. population as a whole. Because of their age, she said, the patients studied are likely to have multiple health conditions and be on multiple medications, which may have affected results.
The overarching takeaway for Cummings is that there were no new red flags in the data that should make people worry about GLP-1 drugs. To the contrary, he said, “every medicine has its pluses and minuses, and these are no exception. But in this case, the pluses greatly outweigh the negative.”
"A study by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the relationship between GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and 175 diseases and conditions supports a lot of what scientists already suspected about potential benefits, but contains a few surprises, too.
The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine and based on an analysis of medical records from about 2.5 million patients in the VA system, support the idea that the medications might be able to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease and who are suffering from substance abuse involving alcohol, cannabis and narcotics. The “discovery” analysis of the drugs involves delving into data to look for connections and is not meant to establish causal relationships, but instead to generate hypotheses.
The research is the first to attempt to comprehensively investigate the effects — both good and bad — of the drugs on the human body. It arrives at a time when anecdotal reports and small studies attesting to new effects of drugs sold under brand names such as Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound emerge regularly...
The research compared diabetes patients on Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs with people taking older treatments. The study also included subjects known as controls who did not have diabetes.
David Cummings, professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington, said he likes to think of database dives such as this as fishing expeditions. Cast a wide net, and you’ll probably get some statistical blips that end up having no meaning even as you get some telling hits.
“The surprising ones are cool because that gives you a new avenue to pursue,” he said.
Among the expected results: GLP-1 was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular, kidney and liver issues. On the negative side, it was linked to gastrointestinal issues such as reflux, headaches and pancreatitis.
Some unexpected findings include a suggestion that the drugs could help with blood clotting, respiration and infection.
“Those are very new, and I’d like to see more research there,” said Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
The data also appeared to support recent studies that found that suicidal thoughts were reduced by GLP-1 drugs rather than increased, as feared early on. Volkow said the signals suggesting a reduction in suicidality should be followed up, and wondered whether it might indicate that GLP-1 drugs dampen people’s stress responses, a finding in animal models.
The National Institutes of Health had been studying the impact of GLP-1 drugs on substance abuse even before the arrival of Ozempic, and Volkow said some clinicians have been prescribing them off-label already.
“The evidence is suggestive absolutely, but it’s not at the standard to very clearly say, ‘Let’s recommend this for a treatment,’” Volkow said.
Some scientists were puzzled by an increased signal of arthritis among patients taking the drugs. Cummings called that “very strange” because weight loss should ease arthritis symptoms.
Stanford cautioned that the study should be viewed within the context of the VA population, which tends to be older, less diverse and more male than the U.S. population as a whole. Because of their age, she said, the patients studied are likely to have multiple health conditions and be on multiple medications, which may have affected results.
The overarching takeaway for Cummings is that there were no new red flags in the data that should make people worry about GLP-1 drugs. To the contrary, he said, “every medicine has its pluses and minuses, and these are no exception. But in this case, the pluses greatly outweigh the negative.”
