Slimming medications provide more than just weight loss. That was known. But American researchers have now mapped out the effect on a long list of conditions. This atlas of effects of so-called GLP-1 medicines will be available on Monday Nature Medicine.
The researchers looked at 175 health characteristics of more than two million users in a database of veterans. The connections they found support anecdotal evidence for all kinds of effects of GLP-1 drugs, which are now used by approximately one in eight Americans are used and of which Ozempic is the best known brand.
The study reads like a profit and loss account: the drugs developed to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes have all kinds of positive side effects, including on cardiovascular health and curbing addiction.
But the list also shows many unpleasant and dangerous side effects. Nausea and vomiting are common. In rarer cases, the stomach can no longer process food properly or people develop kidney stones or low blood pressure.
Nevertheless, the beneficial effects are so numerous that during the press presentation someone asked whether GLP-1 medication should not be added to the tap water. “These medicines also have risks, users end up in hospital,” countered lead researcher Ziyad Al-Aly. “Not everyone benefits equally, and people without obesity already have a lower risk of many diseases.” The Washington University epidemiologist emphasized that doctors must assess on an individual basis whether the risks outweigh the expected health benefits.
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GLP-1 drugs work on receivers (receptors) located throughout the body, especially in the intestines and brain. Semaglutide is one GLP-1 agent, but there are more, and new ones are on the way, also in combination with other agents. It is becoming increasingly clear that they have effects that occur independently of the weight loss. “GLP-1 drugs are designed for one thing, but the biology of the body is complex and there appears to be a web of effects.”
Optimism prevailed during the presentation. What is striking is its beneficial effect on inflammation, for example, but also on addiction to alcohol and drugs. “There is a school that calls obesity a food addiction,” says Al-Aly. Not a crazy thought, he says, since GLP-1 receptors in the brain influence impulse control and the reward system.
The large group of users also showed that they developed Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s slightly less often. These are modest effects. And for most other diseases the risk also decreased by at most 10 to 20 percent. “But that does not detract from the potential of these drugs for diseases for which there are currently few effective treatments, such as dementia,” Al-Aly said.
This study says little about the long-term effects. The veterans studied – mainly older white men – used the drugs between 2017 and 2024.