Novo Nordisk’s drug Ozempic was linked to a lower risk of getting diagnosed with Alzheimer’s among people with type 2 diabetes, an analysis of medical records found, supporting the case for further research of the blockbuster GLP-1 drug in neurodegenerative diseases.
Among the over 1 million people with diabetes whose records were included in the study, the overall risk of developing Alzheimer’s was already very low. But researchers found that semaglutide, the scientific name of Ozempic, was associated with a 40% to 70% lower risk of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis over three years compared with other diabetes treatments such as insulin, metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, and older GLP-1 drugs.
They also found that semaglutide was linked to a lower rate of prescriptions for Alzheimer’s drugs, according to the study, led by researchers at Case Western Reserve University and published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia Thursday.
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