Type 2 diabetics may have a shot at significantly lowering their risk of Alzheimer’s disease if they take Ozempic instead of other diabetes medications, a new study finds.
Semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — is part of a class of drugs that mimic the body’s natural GLP-1 hormone, making users feel fuller for longer.
“Preclinical research has suggested that semaglutide may protect against neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation,” said Case Western Reserve University biomedical informatics professor Rong Xu, “this new study provides real-world evidence for its impact on Alzheimer’s disease.”
Chronic inflammation is when your immune system remains activated long after an injury or threat of illness has passed.
Neuroinflammation — inflammation of the nervous tissue — is often observed in Alzheimer’s patients.
Diabetics tend to be at greater risk for Alzheimer’s because high blood sugar can damage blood vessels in the brain and spur inflammation. Obesity has also been linked to chronic inflammation.
GLP-1 drugs indirectly reduce inflammation through weight loss. The meds can also activate certain T cells, white blood cells key to the immune system, which can have anti-inflammatory effects.
Xu’s team analyzed three years of electronic records for approximately 1 million Type 2 diabetic Americans free of Alzheimer’s at the start of the study. The researchers compared semaglutide to other GLP-1 drugs and the anti-diabetes medications insulin, metformin, DPP-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones.
Semaglutide was associated with 40% to 70% reduced risks of a first-time Alzheimer’s diagnosis, especially against insulin and even compared to other GLP-1 drugs.
The findings — which were consistent across gender, age and obesity subgroups — were published Thursday in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association,
Nearly 7 million Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s, which gradually destroys memory and thinking skills and the ability to perform daily tasks. About 120,000 Americans die from the brain disorder each year.
“Our results indicate that further research into semaglutide’s use will need to be further investigated through randomized clinical trials so alternative drugs can be tested as potential treatment for this debilitating illness,” Xu said.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic in 2017 to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults and Wegovy in 2021 for adult weight loss.
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, told The Post it “welcomes independent research investigating the safety, efficacy, and clinical utility of our products.”
The Danish pharmaceutical company is conducting its own clinical trials on semaglutide for early Alzheimer’s with expected completion next year.
Meanwhile, researchers have been testing Ozempic’s effect on a host of other ailments, including opioid and alcohol use disorder, heart disease and skin conditions.
