SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By Joe Pinkstone
Weight-loss jabs reduce the risk of developing more than 40 different health conditions, a major study has found.
GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro can help people lose more than a fifth of their body weight and have been linked to a range of health benefits – but also some concerns.
A new study shows weight-loss medications reduce the risk of cardiac arrest by 22 per cent, pneumonia by 16 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 12 per cent, bacterial infections by 12 per cent, and alcohol use disorder by 11 per cent.Credit: Bloomberg
Scientific evidence has struggled to keep up with the anecdotal evidence emerging at a rapid pace as a result of the millions of people taking medications for weight loss.
A new study from Washington University, in St Louis, Missouri, analysed the health records of more than 2.4 million people, including 215,000 people taking the jabs, to see how the drugs impact the risk of developing 175 different health outcomes.
Data show that the medications reduced the risk of cardiac arrest by 22 per cent, pneumonia by 16 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 12 per cent, bacterial infections by 12 per cent, and alcohol use disorder by 11 per cent.
In total, there were 42 health outcomes that were shown to have a lower likelihood in a person who was prescribed a GLP-1 drug.
However, 19 health outcomes were also shown to become more likely, including nausea and vomiting (30 per cent), headaches (10 per cent) and abdominal pain (12 per cent).
However, the study also uncovered the medications are linked to an increased risk of hemorrhoids, low blood pressure, tendonitis and osteoarthritis.
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“We have seen skyrocketing increased utilisation of GLP-1 over the past several years,” Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, the Washington University study author, told reporters.
“Really, almost everybody is on it in the US, with increasing utilisation in the EU, and the UK, and elsewhere in the world.”
Several studies have investigated the link between weight loss medications and individual health issues but this study was the first to offer a macroscale analysis of their potential impact on all health outcomes.
“Interestingly, there was a reduced risk of seizure disorders, neurocognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia,” Dr Al-Aly said.
“We also saw reduced risk of clotting disorders and reduced risk of infections and several other things.
“However, the beneficial profile is not without risks. We know there are also increased risks of gastrointestinal problems, and this is very common.”
The scientists believe there are two mechanisms that each have an impact on how the GLP-1 drugs influence so many health outcomes.
One is that, by losing weight, a person is healthier and therefore less exposed to the risks posed by obesity, and the other is that the drugs have a role in the brain and alter psychological pathways.
“We tend to think of these drugs as surgically designed to do only one thing,” Dr Al-Aly added. “But the reality is, it’s almost never like this. Biology is complex.
“The general message here is that there are two key mechanisms. One is probably related to obesity and the second pathway is reduced inflammation, and things related to reward signaling and impulse control in the brain.”
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that there was a reduced risk of kidney disease in people taking weight loss jabs, but a higher risk of kidney stones.
“It may be related to the possibility that when people take GLP-1 they eat a whole lot less to lose weight, but they also hydrate themselves less. They drink less water because their stomach shrinks and they feel full very quickly.
“And maybe, I’m theorising here, perhaps chronic dehydration leads to increased risk of kidney stones.”
Other surprising findings from the study are how GLP-1 drugs make arthritis more likely when a person is lighter and bearing less weight, and also how they could be responsible for making a person less prone to bacterial infections, including sepsis and pneumonia.
The Telegraph
