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Over the last few years, GLP-1 agonists, a class of drugs including semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound), have become famous for treating diabetes and obesity. Now, clinical evidence is piling up that GLP-1 drugs are good for more than shedding pounds. Writing in Science, the Canadian endocrinologist Daniel Drucker recently reviewed what those benefits could be.
According to Drucker, some of the best-established benefits are to heart health. Several trials have found that GLP-1 agonists reduce cardiovascular problems like strokes, heart attacks, and cardiac arrest. Importantly, these effects seem to be largely independent of weight loss; patients have experienced cardiovascular benefits before they lost significant weight, and those benefits were uncorrelated with how much weight the patients ultimately lost.
Drucker cites other studies showing potential mental health benefits. Overweight and obese people taking semaglutide, for example, have fewer suicidal thoughts and lower rates of cannabis abuse than those taking other blood sugar or weight loss drugs, and there is some evidence that GLP-1 agonists can reduce alcohol consumption. There is also a correlation between GLP-1 agonist use and reduced cognitive dysfunction, and trials are currently investigating the drugs’ effects on Parkinson’s and dementia.
It’s notable that so many of the conditions GLP-1 agonists may treat are so-called “diseases of affluence,” meaning they are the result, at least indirectly, of rising global wealth, sedentary lifestyles, and longer lifespans. In other words, they are problems that progress created. Of course, they are better problems than poverty, hard labor, and early death. And, as GLP-1 agonists demonstrate, they are also problems we can solve.
Malcolm Cochran, Digital Communications Manager
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