Ozempic-style drugs tied to more than 60 health benefits and risks in biggest study-of-its-kind

These drugs help treat diabetes by promoting the release of insulin and helping to reduce blood sugar levels. But they have also been linked to weight loss, potentially by slowing down the digestion of food and curbing appetite. In 2024, Wegovy also received regulatory approval in the U.S. to treat heart disease, although the exact mechanism-of-action is unclear.

Evidence is additionally emerging to suggest that GLP-1RAs may help prevent the onset of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and help patients to manage others like substance-use disorders. However, concerns have also been raised regarding the negative side effects of taking GLP-1RAs, including reports of gastrointestinal issues.

Related: Ozempic-like meds linked to higher risk of pancreatitis, 'stomach paralysis' than other weight-loss drugs

Now, in a new study, scientists have compiled what they say is the clearest ever picture of the effectiveness and risks associated with taking GLP-1RAs.

In the study, researchers assessed the impact of taking GLP-1RAs on the health of 215,000 people with type 2 diabetes over around four years. They then compared these effects to a control group of more than one million individuals who received different types of anti-diabetic drugs. Data on all participants was obtained from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

Overall, the researchers found that GLP-1RAs have many beneficial effects, some of which were previously recognized. For instance, those who took GLP-1RAs had a 9%, 8% and 12% reduced risk of having a heart attack, deep vein thrombosis and Alzheimer's, respectively, compared to controls. They were also less likely to develop substance-use disorders, including alcohol-use disorders and cannabis-use disorders (both an 11% lower risk), as well as having a 12% lower risk of experiencing bacterial infections.

These effects may somehow be linked to both the health benefits of physically losing weight, as well as other effects of GLP-1RAs in the body, such as reducing inflammation and influencing reward signaling in the brain, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, study co-author and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University, said during a Jan. 16 news conference.

However, these benefits did not come without risks, the researchers observed. For example, GLP-1RAs also increased people's odds of developing gastrointestinal issues such as abdominal pain (12%), plus low blood pressure (6% higher risk) and arthritis (11% higher risk).

"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," Al-Aly said.

The study, which was published Monday (Jan. 20) in the journal Nature Medicine, mainly used data from older, white males, meaning that the findings may not apply to other demographics.

Nevertheless, the hope is that healthcare providers could use the findings to decide whether patients should take these drugs, depending on their medical history, Al-Aly said.

"This [study] is a great example of the value of large databases of medical records data enabling not only a study to assess safety profile but also potential new uses for an increasingly widely used therapy for diabetes and obesity," Dr. Penny Ward, a visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King's College London who was not involved in the research, told Live Science in an email.

The study was observational, therefore it cannot prove that GLP-1RAs cause these effects. To do this, a randomized controlled trial is needed, whereby the effects of GLP-1RAs are tested against a control group in a tightly-regulated way.

Fortunately, such trials are currently underway with results potentially available in the next one to four years, said Dr. Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who was not involved in the research.

"Such trials will lead us much closer to the truth," he told the U.K. Science Media Centre.