Ozempic and Mounjaro may have health benefits beyond weight loss

• Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and similar medications for type 2 diabetes and weight loss may also help with other conditions.
• The drugs are thought to improve heart disease, kidney health, infertility and even addictive urges.
• But some of these conditions improve with weight loss, regardless of drug treatment, experts say.

OzempicWegovy and Mounjaro may offer serious health benefits beyond weight loss.

GLP-1 medications have been linked to decreased risks of heart disease, kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s diseaseas well as increased fertility and reduced alcohol cravings. However, Dr. Armando E. Castro-Tié, vice president of system surgery at Northwell Health, tells PEOPLE that some conditions improved by anti-obesity drugs are related to weight loss and not the drugs themselves.

“Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, all those things — they can get better, but it’s because of weight loss,” Castro-Tié tells PEOPLE. “The common channel here is that weight loss leads to improvements in all of these things.”

Below are some of the conditions that anti-obesity medications can help improve:

Heart disease

GLP-1 drugs appear to be good for the heart. Medicare announced it would cover the semaglutide drug Wegovy for heart disease – not weight loss – after a clinical trial has been shown to reduce the risk of heart problems in overweight people by 20%. And a great and well-known study showed that in patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk, the rate of cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke was significantly lower in patients receiving semaglutide than in those receiving a placebo.

As Castro-Tié explains: “The common goal of treating people who struggle with their weight is to get them to lose that excess weight so that their body doesn’t have to work harder. Their hearts don’t need to work harder.

Kidney health

People taking semaglutide were 24% less likely to have major kidney disease than those taking a placebo, according to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They were less likely to need dialysis or a kidney transplant, less likely to lose half of their kidney function and less likely to die from kidney or cardiovascular problems.

Alzheimer’s disease

A recent study has linked semaglutide to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease in people with type 2 diabetes. But it’s too early to say that Ozempic can help Alzheimer’s disease, Castro-Tié told PEOPLE.

“We need to do randomized controlled studies to make sure that B is happening because of A. That’s certainly worth exploring,” he says, adding that it’s time to conduct “meaningful, well-designed research ” to determine if Ozempic can slow progression. of the disease.

Fertility

“Ozempic Babies” are making headlines because women who reported suffering from infertility are now becoming pregnant while taking the drug. But as Dr. Iman Saleh, an obstetrician and gynecologist and director of obesity medicine at Northwell’s Department of Bariatrics, told PEOPLE, that’s due to weight loss — not the medication alone. “Even if it’s a 5 or 10 pound weight. weight loss, it may actually allow patients to resume ovulation and become pregnant.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

Symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may improve during treatment. tirzepatid. Known by the brand name Mounjaro, it has been prescribed off-label to relieve symptoms of PCOS, a hormonal condition that causes irregular periods, excessive hair growth, acne, weight gain and infertility. While weight loss can certainly impact hormone levels, the the impact of medications on insulin is the driving force behind symptom improvement.

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Alcohol and drug addiction

In the same way that GLP-1 drugs reduce food cravings, they also appear to reduce drug and alcohol cravings. A study in the journal Dependence found that alcohol-dependent people who took Ozempic or similar medications had a 50% lower rate of binge drinking than those who did not take them. And people with opioid use disorder who took these medications had a 40% lower opioid overdose rate.

“Some patients report that they have less desire to drink alcohol,” Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD., a physician scientist in obesity medicine at Yale University who was not involved in the study , told people. In fact, Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, announced his intention to study whether or not the drug can impact a person’s desire for alcohol.

However, Castro-Tié says the drug could have the opposite effect in some people. “Patients are not able to consume a large amount of food, but they are looking for other ways to get to that level, they are looking for other ways to get serotonin,” he says. “Sometimes that addiction transfers to something else.”

He adds: “This speaks to the importance of ensuring that we surround our patients with care – not just medical and clinical care, but also the mental health care and social support they need. »

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