A group of scientists have discovered that Ozempic, a drug typically used for diabetes, can help treat a wide range of other illnesses.
Researchers based at the Yale School of Medicine, claimed they found the drug could be used to treat a wide range of illnesses linked to heart failure, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and cancer.
Experts tracked more than 17,600 people aged 45 or older and they were given either 2.4 mg of semaglutide (Ozempic) or a placebo for more than three years. Participants were obese or overweight and had heart disease but not diabetes. Those who took the drug died at a lower rate from all causes, including cardiovascular issues and Covid-19.
The new data has been published in a number of medical journals including the Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC), which Professor Harlan Krumholz, from the Yale School of Medicine, edits.
Professor Krumholz said the drug ‘has far reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined’ and that he wouldn’t be surprised ‘that improving people’s health this way actually slows down the ageing process’.
Against this backdrop, Dr Benjamin Scirica, lead author of one of the studies, claimed the findings ‘reinforce that overweight and obesity increases the risk of death due to many etiologies’.
Although he told the PA news agency, this ‘can be modified with potent incretin-based therapies like semaglutide.’
The medication comes in the form of an injection and mimics the hormone GLP-1, making people feel fuller. It’s available on prescription and offered by the NHS and sold under brand names Wegovy – used to treat obesity – and Ozempic, for diabetes.
Image: Markus Spiske
Health is wealth: new weight loss drug helps to improve heart conditions
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