A New Study Explored the Pros and Cons of Drugs Like Ozempic

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy were initially used — and still are used — to treat diabetes. But in recent years, the uses of this class of drugs have grown in number. Nowadays, Ozempic and its ilk are often used for weight loss — and have shown promise in addressing other health issues. “Promise” only goes so far, and it’s left many people wondering just what Ozempic and Wegovy can and can’t do.

That line of thinking is what led Yan Xie, Taeyoung Choi and Ziyad Al-Aly to explore the full scope of effects of GLP-1 drugs. In a paper recently published in Nature Medicine, the trio used a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs database to explore how these drugs affected 175 different conditions.

Among their findings are that GLP-1 drugs were linked with a reduced risk of everything from neurocognitive disorders to respiratory illnesses. However, they also found evidence that the same drugs could raise ther risk of a number of chronic conditions as well, including arthritis, hypotension and gastrointestinal issues.

The Future of Ozempic Is Coming Into Focus

Compounding pharmacies are still doing a brisk business in alternatives

As Dr. Al-Aly explained to Live Science, he and his colleagues sought to get a fuller picture of the effects of GLP-1 drugs on the human body. “We tend to think of drugs as being surgically designed to do only one thing, but the reality is, it’s almost never like this,” he told the publication. Hopefully these findings can expand our knowlege of Ozempic and similar drugs — for good and for ill.