Studies have found that people with diabetes who take the drug in a weight-loss vaccine can reduce the risk of 42 diseases, paving the way for such drugs to be used to treat a range of health problems.

The most comprehensive study of its kind shows that conditions such as mental disorders, infections and dementia are less likely to occur when taking GLP-1RA drugs (containing GLP-1RA in the drugs Saxenda, Wegovy and Mounjaro).

Researchers compared the health outcomes of diabetic patients who received usual care with those who also took medications such as liraglutide, semaglutide and tezepatide. While the team found that the latter group had a lower risk of many diseases, the risk of others, including arthritis, was increased.

The scientists said the benefits were not limited to people with diabetes, suggesting they could also be seen in other people using the vaccine, such as those taking it to fight obesity.

Professor Ziyad Al-Aly, a co-author of the study at the University of Washington, said: "We only studied people with diabetes, but there is no biological or clinical reason to think that the benefit and risk profile would be significantly different for people without diabetes. .” in St. Louis.

However, people without obesity are unlikely to experience similar potential benefits, Ali said, adding that some positive associations may be related to weight loss, while it's also important to consider the risks.

Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, the team reports how they analyzed records from a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs database to explore associations between GLP-1RA and 175 health outcomes.

The data included 215,970 people with diabetes who received other forms of blood sugar-lowering medications in addition to usual care, and 1,203,097 people with diabetes who received usual care only. Participants were followed for a median of about 3.5 years and had an average body mass index above the obesity threshold.

“Literally, we want to paint a picture of the benefits and risks,” Al-Aly said.

The results showed that GLP-1RAs were associated with lower risks of 42 health outcomes, ranging from coagulation disorders to chronic kidney disease, compared with usual care. More specifically, the risk was 13% lower for opioid use disorder; 19% for bulimia; 18% for schizophrenia and other mental disorders; 10% for suicidal ideation, attempt, or intentional self-harm; 12% for Alzheimer's disease; 12% bacterial infection.

However, the team found that GLP-1RAs were associated with a higher risk of 19 conditions compared with conventional treatment, including abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure, and kidney stones.

While some associations were expected, Al-Ali noted that others — such as a lower risk of infection — were more puzzling. Although Al-Aly notes that losing weight can reduce the development of arthritis because there is less stress on weight-bearing joints, new research has found that people who take GLP-1RAs have an increased risk of arthritis.

"This may be related to the loss of muscle mass and poor physical condition in people who lose weight rapidly," Al-Ali said, although he noted that this requires further study.

Health associations associated with GLP-1-RA were also compared with those of hundreds of thousands of individuals receiving other types of antidiabetic medications. The team again found that GLP-1-RA drugs were associated with a reduced risk of many diseases but an increased risk of others.

"This type of analysis can allow us to understand disease mechanisms not previously considered and could open avenues for new treatments for these diseases," Al-Aly said.

This isn't the first time GLP-1RAs have been linked to a host of potential health benefits: Researchers are already exploring whether they could prove helpful in areas ranging from dementia to cancer.

Professor Navid Sattar of the University of Glasgow, who was not involved in the study, said randomized trials were needed to explore the new associations proposed by the study, but noted that trials had already demonstrated a number of potential benefits, such as a reduced risk of heart attack.

"As more and larger trials are reported, we will learn more about these classes of drugs, particularly those that induce substantial weight loss, allowing us to better understand their net benefit and safety," he said. and potentially expand their indications.”