A recent study has found that people with diabetes who take medications like Saxenda, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have a reduced risk of 42 health conditions. The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, compared the health outcomes of individuals with diabetes who received these medications with those who received usual care.
The study, which analyzed data from over 215,000 individuals with diabetes, found that GLP-1RAs were associated with a lower risk of conditions such as:
* Opioid-use disorders
* Bulimia
* Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
* Suicidal ideation
* Alzheimer’s disease
* Bacterial infections
However, the study also found that GLP-1RAs were associated with a greater risk of certain conditions, including:
* Abdominal pain
* Nausea and vomiting
* Low blood pressure
* Kidney stones
The researchers suggest that the benefits of GLP-1RAs may not be limited to people with diabetes, but could also apply to individuals using these medications for weight loss. However, further research is needed to confirm this.
Lead author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly said, “We only studied people with diabetes, but there is no biologic or clinical reason to think that the beneficial and risk profiles would be very different in people without diabetes.” He noted that some of the positive associations may be linked to weight loss, while others may be due to other factors.
The study’s findings have implications for the potential use of GLP-1RAs as treatments for a range of health conditions beyond diabetes. As one expert noted, “This type of analysis can teach us about mechanisms of diseases that we have not considered previously – and could open pathways to new treatments for these conditions.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/20/weight-loss-jabs-linked-to-reduced-risk-of-42-conditions-including-dementia