Tag Archives: Wegovy

Wegovy Improves Heart Health Even with Slight Weight Loss

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Increasing evidence suggests that GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy offer benefits beyond treating obesity and type 2 diabetes.

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Research indicates that the weight-loss medication Wegovy can lower the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions, even in individuals who may not experience significant weight loss or those who aren’t severely obese.

Earlier findings from the SELECT trial hinted that Wegovy, a GLP-1 weight-loss drug, could have these heart health benefits, but it remained unclear if they were solely due to weight reduction. Studies involving pigs suggested a direct protective effect on the heart, now validated in humans.

“The important takeaway is that the cardiovascular advantages of these drugs occur independently of weight loss. This repositions them as drugs that modify diseases rather than merely aiding weight loss,” explains John Deanfield from University College London.

Wegovy contains semaglutide, a GLP-1 treatment, as well as Ozempic, which is designed for managing type 2 diabetes. While these treatments are approved for weight management and diabetes, they have shown promise in various other conditions, including dementia and alcoholism.

The SELECT trial assessed semaglutide against placebo regarding cardiovascular risks in 17,604 participants aged 45 and older who were overweight or obese. None were diabetic, yet all had some heart disease. In November 2023, Deanfield et al. announced that semaglutide reduced the likelihood of heart attacks, strokes, and other severe cardiac events by 20%.

Researchers are analyzing data to determine if these effects are solely due to weight loss, examining various body mass index (BMI) and weight loss ranges. They discovered that individuals starting with a BMI of 27—categorized as mildly obese—showed improved heart disease risk after using semaglutide, as did the severely obese with a BMI of 44.

Interestingly, the degree of weight lost seemed to have minimal impact on cardiovascular improvements, whether during the initial 20 weeks or throughout the nearly two-year study.

However, abdominal fat appears to play a significant role. Researchers noted that a slimmer waist at the study’s onset correlated with reduced heart disease risk, regardless of whether participants received semaglutide or a placebo. Moreover, after years on semaglutide, each 5-centimeter reduction in waist size was linked to a 9% decrease in cardiovascular event risk. The research team found that waistline reduction contributed to nearly one-third of the drug’s heart-protective effects, while the reasons for the other benefits remain unclear.

These results reinforce semaglutide’s potential beyond just weight management, as individuals in the placebo group even experienced a slight rise in heart disease risk while losing weight; this may be reflective of an underlying health issue, Deanfield notes.

Further studies are required to unpack how semaglutide and potentially other GLP-1 medications exert these benefits. Professor Deanfield speculates that enhancements in blood vessel function and blood pressure could be at play, alongside possible anti-inflammatory effects.

“Inflammation is a crucial mechanism influencing various diseases we want to avoid,” he mentions. “This appears to be a shared pathway targeted by these drugs.”

This advantage might also be linked to how semaglutide interacts with fat surrounding the heart, referred to as epicardial adipose tissue. Gianluca Iacobellis from the University of Miami highlights, “Semaglutide binds to epicardial adipose tissue receptors to enhance tissue health, consequently improving heart function and lowering cardiovascular event risks.”

“The query remains: What criteria should we establish to identify individuals most likely to benefit from these drugs?” questions Stefano Masi from the University of Pisa, Italy. “This is an ongoing challenge.”

topic:

  • Medical drugs /
  • heart disease

Source: www.newscientist.com

High Dosage of Wegovy: Impacts on Weight Loss and Side Effects

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Weekly Wegovy Injections Facilitate Weight Loss

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Testing reveals that a higher weekly dosage of Wegovy is linked to an increased risk of side effects.

Prior research indicates that individuals receiving the standard weekly doses of Wegovy, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, can lose up to 15% of their body weight over a year when combined with a healthy diet and exercise regimen. This medication mimics the action of GLP-1, a hormone akin to glucagon, which aids in numerous ways such as delaying stomach emptying and signaling the brain to suppress appetite.

Produced by the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, Wegovy is approved for use among individuals with obesity or those who are overweight and possess at least one weight-related condition like type 2 diabetes. “However, some patients may not experience the desired level of weight loss or may seek more than the average 10-15% reduction,” says Lora Heisler, who was not part of the research team from the University of Aberdeen in the UK.

To explore the potential benefits of increased dosage, Shawn Wharton and colleagues, including scientists from the University of Toronto and Novo Nordisk, studied over 1,000 obese adults across 11 countries, including the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe.

Participants, all without diabetes, were randomly assigned to receive either a high dosage of 7.2 milligrams or the standard 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide, alongside a placebo injection mimicking Wegovy. Doses of semaglutide were gradually elevated over several weeks, and all participants were encouraged to maintain a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day and engage in physical activity for 150 minutes weekly.

After one year, those receiving the standard dosage lost an average of 16% of their body weight, while the high-dose group achieved about 19% weight loss. Conversely, the placebo group lost approximately 44% of their body weight.

One-third of participants in the standard dosage category experienced over 20% weight loss, compared to almost half in the high-dose group. Only 3% in the placebo group reached this threshold, indicating that higher dosages can significantly enhance weight loss outcomes, according to Heisler.

At the onset of the study, more than one-third of participants in each group had prediabetes, marked by elevated blood sugar levels without qualifying for type 2 diabetes. By the study’s conclusion, diabetes cases in the high-dose group decreased by 83%, while cases within the standard-dose group fell by 74%. “This is highly encouraging, as the main objective of weight loss is to enhance overall health,” Heisler remarks.

Nevertheless, there are noteworthy drawbacks. Bowel-related side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, were reported by 61% in the standard-dose group, while 71% in the high-dose category experienced similar issues. In comparison, 40% of those taking the placebo also faced these symptoms, which might not be directly related to the treatment, according to Heisler.

Moreover, over 20% of the high-dose group reported unpleasant skin sensations known as dysesthesia. As a result, four participants discontinued their treatment. By contrast, only 6% of the standard-dose recipients and just one in the placebo group reported this side effect, with no one ceasing treatment.

These findings indicate that the advantages of higher dosages may outweigh the associated risks for certain individuals, according to Heisler. “For those requiring substantial weight loss who don’t experience many side effects, the higher dose may facilitate their goals,” she states. However, it may not be appropriate for individuals achieving sufficient weight loss on standard doses or those enduring severe side effects. She emphasizes the need for additional trials to validate these results before clinical application.

In a separate trial, Wharton and his team suggest that higher dosages might yield greater weight loss and enhanced blood glucose levels in individuals with both obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the results were not statistically significant, indicating a need for further investigation, says Simon Cork from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.

Topics:

  • obesity/
  • Weight loss drugs

Source: www.newscientist.com

Medications Similar to Wegovy Show Effectiveness in Treating Fatty Liver Disease

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Fatty liver disease can lead to cirrhosis and cancer

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Currently, common medications used for treating obesity and diabetes are showing promise in combating life-threatening liver diseases.

Semaglutide, marketed under names like Ozempic and Wegovi, mimics the hormone GLP-1, which aids in weight loss and regulates blood sugar levels, helps suppress appetite, and promotes insulin secretion. Researchers have now found that this drug therapy can halt or even reverse a condition known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

“This could offer a groundbreaking way to manage this condition,” says Philip Newsom from King’s College London. “It’s incredibly promising for patients.”

MASH, formerly known as NASH, is a severe version of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease marked by inflammation, fibrosis (scar tissue formation), and excessive liver fat accumulation, occasionally leading to cirrhosis and cancer. MASH is commonly linked to obesity and often coexists with type 2 diabetes.

A study conducted in 2020 involving 320 participants revealed that daily semaglutide injections led to a reduction in liver fat and inflammation in 59% of those with MASH. However, a more recent investigation involving 71 patients found no benefits from the weekly dosage.

For a broader perspective, Newsom and Arun Sanyal from Virginia Commonwealth University initiated a larger trial involving 1,195 MASH patients across 253 clinical sites in 37 countries. Participants averaged 56 years old with a body mass index of 34.6, and about 50% had type 2 diabetes.

The physician prescribed each participant a weekly semaglutide injection for four and a half years, gradually increasing the dose to 2.4 milligrams over the first four months, mirroring those used in Wegovy based on prior test findings. Participants also received lifestyle counseling to encourage a healthier diet and exercise.

While the full study is ongoing, results from biopsies taken 72 weeks later revealed that among the first 800 patients, including 266 receiving a placebo, 62.9% of those on semaglutide showed significant reductions in liver fat and inflammation, compared to 34.3% in the placebo group. Improvements in fibrosis were observed in 36.8% of the treatment group versus only 22.4% for the placebo group. About one-third of all treated patients and 16.1% of placebo patients experienced these benefits.

Weight loss alone could explain some of these improvements, as patients in the treatment cohort lost an average of 10.5% of their body weight, while those on the placebo lost only 2%. Although further research is needed to fully uncover the mechanisms behind the treatment, it may also directly target the processes driving the disease.

“It’s not yet established, but part of the efficacy of GLP-1-like drugs might be due to their effects on immune cells and reduction of inflammation,” notes Newsom.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Trump refuses Medicare proposals to include Wegovy and other medications for obesity

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The Trump administration rejected the Biden plan on Friday, which proposed Medicare and Medicaid covering obesity drugs and increasing access to millions of people.

The Biden administration’s proposal aimed to circumvent the ban on Medicare paying for weight loss drugs by claiming they would treat diseases related to obesity.

Expanding drug coverage would cost the federal government billions of dollars, with an estimated cost of around $35 billion over a decade according to the Congressional Budget Office Estimates.

The decision was part of a larger set of regulations contained in a 438-page document aimed at updating Medicare benefits and private insurance plans used by about half of Medicare beneficiaries.

Catherine Howden, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated that the agency did not believe it was appropriate at the time to approve the Biden plan.

Medicare currently covers a limited set of weight loss medications for individuals with specific health conditions, such as diabetes and heart problems.

The Biden plan aimed to extend coverage to obese patients without these specific diseases, with an estimated 3.4 million people potentially benefiting from the policy.

Popular weight loss pills like Wegovy by Eli Lilly and other related products are now available at reduced prices to patients paying out of pocket.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk offer discounts for their products to patients paying out of pocket instead of through insurance, significantly reducing the cost for individuals.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized weight loss pills, advocating for a diet of healthy foods instead.

Clinical trials have shown benefits of weight loss drugs beyond just weight loss, including preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Supporters of expanded drug coverage argue that the long-term health benefits will outweigh the costs, potentially reducing overall medical expenses. However, the realization of such savings remains uncertain.

States’ Medicaid programs now have the option to decide whether to cover obesity drugs or not, with some already opting to provide coverage. If the Biden policy had been implemented, all states would have been required to provide coverage.

The exact cost of obesity drugs for Medicare and Medicaid patients is undisclosed, but it is estimated to be several hundred dollars per patient per month.

Many employers and private health insurance plans do not cover weight loss drugs, leading some to discontinue coverage due to high costs.

Patients without insurance often rely on cheaper generic versions of drugs created through compounding, costing less than $200 a month. However, regulators are phasing out this option due to improved supply of branded products.

Congressional Republicans have shown some interest in urging Medicare to cover weight loss drugs, although this is not a current priority. Negotiations with Novo Nordisk for lower drug prices under a 2022 law have been initiated, with reduced prices scheduled to start in 2027 for eligible individuals.

Source: www.nytimes.com

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy lower susceptibility to 42 illnesses

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Semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonists are injected

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Drugs like Ozempic and Wigovy, called GLP-1 agonists, offer more benefits than risks when taken for their approved uses, according to a comprehensive analysis of their effects on 175 conditions. However, the same may not be true for people who are taking the drug for other purposes.

“In this new area of ​​GLP-1, we wanted to really map the benefits and risks for all the conditions that we thought were relevant,” he says. Jiyad Al Ali at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

These drugs are best known for helping control type 2 diabetes and treating obesity. They mimic the hormone GLP-1 in the body, which lowers blood sugar levels and keeps you feeling full for longer.

Dozens of studies suggest that GLP-1 agonists may also reduce the risk of many other conditions, from heart disease to dementia to substance use disorders. These studies have involved hundreds or thousands of people and have focused on one or a few symptoms at a time, but now that millions of people are using the drug, they are much more This means that less frequent effects can be investigated, Al Ali said.

To get a more comprehensive picture, he and his colleagues examined the health records of more than 200,000 diabetic patients who took GLP-1 agonists over a four-year period in addition to standard treatment. They also looked at 1.2 million people with diabetes who received only standard treatment over the same time period and assessed both groups' risk of developing 175 different health conditions.

The research team found that people who took GLP-1 agonists had a lower risk of 42 diseases. For example, the risk of heart attack was reduced by 9% and the risk of dementia was reduced by 8%. The probability that this group would suffer from suicidal ideation or substance use disorders such as alcohol or opioid addiction was also approximately decreased by 1/10. .

However, there were also downsides for people taking GLP-1 drugs. They were more likely to experience known side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, as well as previously undescribed side effects. These include a 15% higher risk of kidney stones and more than double the risk of pancreatic inflammation or drug-induced pancreatitis. In total, 19 conditions were at increased risk, but taking GLP-1 drugs had no significant effect on risk levels for most of the conditions evaluated, including bronchitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ta.

The fact that these drugs affect such a wide range of symptoms remains surprising, but it is unclear exactly why they have this effect. “They're reducing obesity, which is the root of all disease. If you treat obesity, the heart, kidneys, brain, and everywhere else will benefit later,” Al-Aly said. They also reduce inflammation, which commonly damages organs, and appear to target parts of the brain associated with addiction, he says.

One problem with this analysis is that the research team did not report the actual number of people affected by each condition, making the results difficult to interpret. Daniel Drucker from the University of Toronto and has worked with obesity drug companies. Reducing the risk of common conditions such as heart attacks and dementia is probably worth taking seriously, but the association with rare conditions like pancreatitis is so small that the risk is low for most people. He says it's unlikely. Al-Aly said the research team plans to publish specific numbers of cases in future studies.

Overall, this study provides reassurance that the benefits of GLP-1 agonists outweigh the risks, at least for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. “There are no red flags with this group,” he says. stefan trapp He is a professor at University College London and has worked with obesity drug companies.

However, the situation may be different for people who do not have these conditions, such as people who are not obese and buy drugs to lose weight. “I don't know if the benefits outweigh the risks,” Drucker said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The Impact of GLP-1 Drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy on the Risk of 175 Diseases

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Semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonists are injected

Yulia Burmystrova/Getty Images

Drugs like Ozempic and Wigovy, called GLP-1 agonists, offer more benefits than risks when taken for their approved uses, according to a comprehensive analysis of their effects on 175 conditions. However, the same may not be true for people who are taking the drug for other purposes.

“In this new area of **GLP-1**, we wanted to really map the benefits and risks for all the conditions that we thought were relevant,” he says. Jiyad Al Ali at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

These drugs are best known for helping control type 2 diabetes and treating obesity. They mimic the hormone GLP-1 in the body, which lowers blood sugar levels and keeps you feeling full for longer.

Dozens of studies suggest that GLP-1 agonists may also reduce the risk of many other conditions, from heart disease to dementia to substance use disorders. These studies have involved hundreds or thousands of people and have focused on one or a few symptoms at a time, but now that millions of people are using the drug, they are much more This means that less frequent effects can be investigated, Al Ali said.

To get a more comprehensive picture, he and his colleagues examined the health records of more than 200,000 diabetic patients who took GLP-1 agonists over a four-year period in addition to standard treatment. They also looked at 1.2 million people with diabetes who received only standard treatment over the same period and assessed the risk of both groups developing 175 different health conditions.

The research team found that people who took GLP-1 agonists had a lower risk of 42 diseases. For example, the risk of heart attack was reduced by 9 percent and the risk of dementia was reduced by 8 percent. The probability that this group would suffer from suicidal ideation or substance use disorders such as alcohol or opioid addiction was also approximately decreased by 1/10. .

However, there were also downsides for people taking GLP-1 drugs. They were more likely to experience known side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, as well as previously undescribed side effects. These include a 15% higher risk of kidney stones and more than double the risk of pancreatic inflammation or drug-induced pancreatitis. In total, 19 conditions were at increased risk, but taking GLP-1 drugs had no significant effect on risk levels for most of the conditions evaluated, including bronchitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ta.

The fact that these drugs affect such a wide range of symptoms remains surprising, but it is unclear exactly why they have this effect. “They’re reducing obesity, which is the root of all disease. If you treat obesity, the heart, kidneys, brain, and everywhere else will benefit later,” Al-Aly said. They also reduce inflammation, which commonly damages organs, and appear to target parts of the brain associated with addiction, he says.

One problem with this analysis is that the research team did not report the actual number of people affected by each condition, making the results difficult to interpret. Daniel Drucker from the University of Toronto and has worked with obesity drug companies. Reducing the risk of common conditions such as heart attacks and dementia is probably worth taking seriously, but the association with rare conditions like pancreatitis is so small that the risk is low for most people. He says it’s unlikely. Al-Aly said the research team plans to announce the specific number of cases in a future study.

Overall, this study provides reassurance that the benefits of GLP-1 agonists outweigh the risks, at least for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. “There are no red flags with this group,” he says. stefan trapp He is a professor at University College London and has worked with obesity drug companies.

However, the situation may be different for people who do not fit these criteria, such as people who are not obese and buy drugs to lose weight. “I don’t know if the benefits outweigh the risks,” Drucker said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

How do Ozempic and Wegovy manage all aspects of treatment?

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Drugs are rarely famous, and even more rarely superstars, but with his ability to grab headlines, Ozempic is the Taylor Swift of pharmaceuticals. So what exactly is behind that star power? Even as the drug and its derivatives become more widespread, researchers are racing to figure out how they work.

“We are seeing an incredible amount of benefits,” he says. Stephen Dayan at the University of Illinois. “It's early days, but these drugs look like they're going to change not only medicine, but the entire economy.”

Because most drugs treat only one or two symptoms, “cures” that promise to address all ailments are usually met with skepticism and suspicion. Ozempic seems to be bucking that trend. Wegovy, a version of Ozempic approved for weight loss last year. Reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke An increase of almost 20%. The emergence of “Ozempic pregnancy” suggests Fertility benefits. People started noticing its positive effects on depression and anxiety. In May, Results showed that it also reduced the risk of kidney failure Deaths in diabetic patients were also observed during the three-year trial. In July, another version of The drug was found to reduce brain atrophy Cognitive function declines slowly in Alzheimer's patients.

Wegovy and other weight loss drugs are widely promoted in the US

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Why this drug is effective against so many conditions remains a mystery, but researchers are beginning to unravel the mechanisms underlying its extraordinary abilities. Understanding everything from its impact on reward circuits in the brain to its impact on inflammation…

Source: www.newscientist.com

Ozempic and Wegovy could potentially aid individuals in smoking cessation

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Ozempic has the potential to treat many diseases, not just type 2 diabetes and obesity.

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Another study showed that semaglutide (a drug found in Ozempic and Wegovi – It may help treat addiction: Researchers found that people prescribed the drug to treat type 2 diabetes were less likely to seek medical attention for smoking than those taking other diabetes medications.

Semaglutide helps treat obesity and type 2 diabetes by mimicking hormones that suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar levels. Previous studies have also shown that semaglutide reduces the incidence of diabetes. Cannabis Use Disorder and Alcoholism.

To find out the effect of semaglutide on tobacco addiction, Ron Shu Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio collected data from the electronic medical records of about 223,000 people in the US with type 2 diabetes and smoking habits, about 6,000 of whom had been prescribed semaglutide, and the rest were using one of seven other diabetes medications.

The researchers then tracked whether participants met with a health care provider about smoking or received smoking cessation counseling within a year of starting to take the smoking cessation medication.

After taking into account variables such as age, sex, race and certain health conditions, the team found that people using semaglutide were, on average, less likely to receive tobacco-related medical care than people taking other medications, which the researchers took to be an indication that these people may be more successful in quitting smoking.

For example, semaglutide users were 32% less likely to receive the treatment. Insulin 18% lower than users Metformin user.

People taking semaglutide may be less likely to seek medical care for their smoking, even though they didn’t necessarily stop using such products. But Xu said that because they all sought tobacco-related medical care at similar rates before they started taking type 2 diabetes medication, semaglutide may actually have helped them.

The study was not a randomized controlled trial, which is the highest level of medical evidence, so the results do not conclusively show that semaglutide is behind the effect, he said. Patricia Grigson Kennedy At Pennsylvania State University, however, other studies have shown that semaglutide reduces activity in areas of the brain involved in reward processing and craving, so there may be a causal relationship.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

New Weight Loss Drugs: Will Ozempic, Wegovy and Future Solutions Finally Conquer Obesity?

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There are TikTok hashtags with millions of followers, endless columns about celebrity waistlines, and a flurry of media coverage when test results come out. It is rare for a new drug to receive so much attention. However, it is even more rare for approved drugs to cause safe and rapid weight loss with minimal effort.

A year ago, most people had never heard of semaglutide. Semaglutide is a drug developed about 10 years ago under the brand name Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes. It was later approved as a weight loss aid in the US in 2021 under the name Wegovy. With this drug, people can lose a whopping 15% of their body weight.

The impact of this new class of medicines could be unprecedented and could end the world's growing obesity epidemic. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” he says. Jonathan Campbell At Duke University in North Carolina, he studies how these drugs affect the body.

First, Wegovy was just the beginning. The next generation of these drugs is in development and will be cheaper, easier to use, and, importantly, even more powerful. Additionally, new evidence suggests that Wegovy and its similar products are more effective when given at a younger age, so doctors are considering their use in teenagers and young children. This increases the possibility of switching from obesity treatment to prevention. “Over the past 40 years, we have seen the obesity landscape change dramatically,” Campbell says. “Now we may be at a tipping point where that goes backwards.”

Why is obesity on the rise?

The rise in obesity has been occurring since the 1970s…

Source: www.newscientist.com

Targeting the brain with Ozempic and Wegovy may lead to reduced inflammation

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Ozempic is a diabetes drug, but it is also often used for weight loss.

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Weight loss and diabetes injections such as Wigovy and Ozempic (both semaglutide) are more widely used than initially thought after studies in mice suggest they act on the brain and reduce inflammation throughout the body. Possible medical benefits.

This finding may explain why this class of drugs appears to reduce heart attacks more than would be expected from weight loss effects alone.

It also supports their use in combating a wide range of health conditions that involve inflammation, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, which is being studied in clinical trials.

Semaglutide works by mimicking a gut hormone called GLP-1. Normally released after a meal, GLP-1 reduces appetite, makes you feel full, and triggers the release of insulin, a hormone involved in blood sugar regulation.

Some studies suggest that semaglutide not only reduces weight, but also reduces inflammation, and is a mild increase in certain types of immune system activity.Lowers levels of a compound in the blood called C-reactive protein (CRP) is a well-established sign of inflammation. Daniel Drucker At the University of Toronto, Canada.

A growing body of research suggests that inflammation is involved in many conditions not previously associated with the immune system, such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, but this does not yet lead to new treatments available in the clinic. has not been applied.

Because obesity is also associated with inflammation, semaglutide’s effect on CRP may simply be a side effect of weight loss, rather than the drug itself reducing inflammation.

To find out, Drucker and his colleagues investigated how several GLP-1 mimics affect inflammation in mice. First, they injected bacteria from the mice’s intestines into other parts of their abdomens, causing bacterial infections in their blood. This triggers a strong immune response and causes inflammation.

Some mice were also injected with GLP-1 mimics, either semaglutide or another member of this drug class called exenatide.

GLP-1 mimics reduced the animals’ inflammatory response to infection, but this did not occur when the researchers used mice genetically modified so that their brain cells lacked receptors for GLP-1. Ta.

The researchers also found no reduction in inflammation when they tested genetically normal mice whose brains were injected with compounds that block GLP-1 receptors.

Taken together, these results show that GLP-1 mimetics such as Ozempic act on brain cells to reduce inflammation, and that this is not just a side effect of weight loss.

“Losing weight is good, but you don’t need to lose weight to be effective,” Drucker says. For example, in Wegovy’s recent randomized trial, he says, the drug started preventing heart attacks within the first few months, before people lost significant weight.

“It was known that these drugs acted on inflammation,” he says. Ivan Koichev at Oxford University. “This paper is helpful because it reveals the underlying mechanism.”

In theory, anti-inflammatory drugs could cause people to develop additional infections, but this has so far not been observed in people who received the shots for weight loss or diabetes, Koychev says. .

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Source: www.newscientist.com