Diabetes and obesity drug could delay ageing, researchers suggest
Prescription drug Ozempic, which is used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, could also slow down the process of ageing, researchers believe.
Semaglutide, better known as Ozempic, "has far-reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined," Professor Harlan Krumholz, from the Yale School of Medicine, said following the publication of several new studies.
One of the studies found it could reduce the risk of heart failure events by 27% and the risk of cardiovascular death by 29% in people with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. The studies also found the drug could be used to treat a wide range of illnesses linked to heart failure, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
The new data has been published in a number of medical journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), which Prof Krumholz edits.
"These ground-breaking medications are poised to revolutionise cardiovascular care and could dramatically enhance cardiovascular health," he said.
The studies, part of the SELECT trial, tracked more than 17,600 people, aged 45 or older, as they were given either 2.4 mg of semaglutide or a placebo for more than three years.
Participants were obese or overweight and had cardiovascular disease but not diabetes.
Those who took the drug died at a lower rate from all causes, including cardiovascular issues and COVID-19, researchers found.
People using the weight-loss drug were just as likely to catch COVID but they were less likely to die from it, with 2.6% dying among those on semaglutide compared with 3.1% on the placebo.
And while women experienced fewer major adverse cardiovascular events, the drug "consistently reduced the risk" of adverse cardiovascular outcomes regardless of sex.
It also improved heart failure symptoms and cut levels of inflammation in the body regardless of whether or not people lost weight.
Dr Benjamin Scirica, lead author of one of the studies and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the findings "reinforce that overweight and obesity increases the risk of death due to many etiologies".
He told the PA news agency, this "can be modified with potent incretin-based therapies like semaglutide".
Ozempic was first approved for use in Australia by the TGA in 2019 and its popularity spread during the COVID-19 pandemic.