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NordiskThe blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, suggesting its potential to delay or prevent this memory-robbing condition, according to a study published Thursday.
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, was associated with a 40% to 70% lower risk of a first-time Alzheimer's diagnosis in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to seven other diabetes medications. This includes insulin and older drugs called GLP-1, similar to Ozempic, according to the research.
Alzheimer's disease is often diagnosed in the mild dementia stage, when a person has significant problems with memory and thinking. Nearly 7 million Americans suffer from this condition, the fifth leading cause of death among adults over age 65, according to the Alzheimer's Association. But the number of Alzheimer's patients is projected to rise to nearly 13 million in the United States by 2050.
There are no cures for Alzheimer's, only medications that treat the symptoms of the disease or slow the progression of the disease in people who are in the early stages of the disease. But a potential preventive treatment like semaglutide may be even more helpful, said study co-senior author Dr. Rong Xu, a professor of biomedical informatics at Case Western Reserve University.
This is because by the time many patients are diagnosed with the disease, “it is often too late for treatment,” Xu told CNBC. He added that many of the risk factors for Alzheimer's, such as obesity, diabetes and smoking, can be prevented and “modified.”
The results add to growing evidence that GLP-1s, a popular class of obesity and diabetes medications, may offer health benefits beyond promoting weight loss and regulating blood sugar. This includes Ozempic, Novo Nordisk's Wegovy weight loss injection, and medications from Eli Lilly They work slightly differently.
Novo Nordisk and rival Eli Lilly have been studying their drugs as possible treatments for chronic diseases such as sleep apnea and fatty liver disease. Novo Nordisk, which did not fund the new Case Western study, is also examining semaglutide in a late-stage study in Alzheimer's patients.
The new Case Western study released Thursday builds on other research published in July on a once-daily diabetes and obesity drug called liraglutide, which Novo Nordisk sells under the brand names Saxenda and Victoza. In liraglutide research, data from a mid-stage trial found that the drug can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by protecting patients' brains.
In the study published Thursday, Case Western researchers analyzed three years of electronic records from nearly 1 million American patients with diabetes who did not have a prior diagnosis of Alzheimer's. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
The study compared semaglutide with seven different diabetes medications, including insulin and a drug called metformin. It also includes other GLP-1s, such as liraglutide and a drug from Eli Lilly called dulaglutide.
According to the study, semaglutide was associated with an approximately 70% lower risk of a first-time Alzheimer's diagnosis compared to insulin, a nearly 60% lower risk compared to metformin, and a 40% lower risk compared to metformin. compared to other GLP-1. Semaglutide was also associated with significantly lower prescriptions for Alzheimer's-related medications, according to the study.
Similar reductions in risks were seen in all patients in the trial, regardless of their sex, age group, and whether they were obese.
But the study has limitations since it is based on data from electronic medical records. Xu called for more research, specifically clinical trials that randomly assign patients to receive semaglutide or other treatments, to confirm how much Ozempic and other GLP-1s can help prevent or delay Alzheimer's disease.
Xu and the team of researchers also plan to study whether GLP-1 can prevent Alzheimer's in patients with obesity, but they want to wait a year or two for GLP-1 approved for weight loss to be on the market longer so that there are more patients. data for analysis. Wegovy won approval in the US in 2021, while Eli Lilly's Zepbound weight-loss shot only entered the market last fall.
