Weight loss jabs may offer a protective effect against dementia and stroke, according to a new study.
People with type 2 diabetes and obesity who are taking the drugs are also less likely to die prematurely, researchers found.
Academics said the benefits of drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – including for managing weight and blood sugar levels – are well known, but other health benefits of the popular drugs remain “unclear”.
The study saw experts from Taiwan examine date on 60,000 people from around the world, with an average age of 58, who had type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Around half were given GLP agonist drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide – which are sold under the brand names Wegovy and Mounjaro. Semaglutide is also the main ingredient for the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic.
GLP agonists can reduce a person’s appetite; slow down their digestion; reduce the amount of sugar the liver makes and they help the body to make more insulin when needed.
The other half used other anti-diabetic medication.
During a seven-year follow-up period, researchers found that people given the GLP agonist drugs appeared to have a 37% lower risk of dementia and a 19% reduced risk of stroke.
GLP-1s like #Ozempic, #Saxenda, #Wegovy, or #Mounjaro are not an easy #weightloss hack.
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They were also 30% less likely to die during the follow-up period.
And when researchers looked at the data further they found even greater benefits in people aged 60 or older, women, and those with a body mass index score of 30 to 40.
They found no differences in Parkinson’s disease or brain bleeds.
The academics said their findings suggest “potential neuroprotective and cerebrovascular benefits” of the drugs but they called for more studies to confirm the findings.
“These findings suggest that semaglutide and tirzepatide may offer neuroprotective and cerebrovascular benefits beyond glycemic control, potentially improving long-term cognitive and survival outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity,” they wrote in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Commenting on the study, Professor Tara Spires-Jones, director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the UK Dementia Research Institute, said: “This is a very interesting study adding to evidence that GLP1 receptor agonists are associated with a lower risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
“This type of study cannot determine whether the drugs reduced disease risk by directly protecting the brain.
“It is highly likely that effectively treating type 2 diabetes and obesity would reduce dementia and stroke risk as they are known risk factors for these conditions.
“Further work is needed including randomised clinical trials to confirm these drugs are protective in people with diabetes and obesity and other trials are needed to determine whether these drugs will be protective in people who do not have type 2 diabetes and obesity.”
Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It is well established that diabetes and obesity can increase your risk of developing dementia.
“This study supports existing evidence that shows these drugs may reduce dementia risk, particularly for people aged 60 and over who are living with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
“Although interesting, we can’t draw conclusions from this study alone as it is an observational study, only a small number of people who took part went on to develop dementia and as the impact of these drugs on different types of dementia is not clear.
“There are clinical trials currently looking at whether drugs like these can be used to treat early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, so this is a really exciting area being explored in the research fight against dementia.”
