As of: January 28, 2024, 9:00 p.m
By: Anna Katharina Kuesters
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A new Swedish study suggests that the diabetes drug Ozempic may also reduce the risk of serious liver disease.
Ozempic was originally intended as a medication for people with type 2 diabetes.
It helps these people to find the correct medication setting for their illness: Due to the active ingredient semaglutide, the body releases more insulin after eating.
At the same time, patients feel full more quickly and their blood sugar levels drop sharply less often.
Ozempic as a new trend drug for losing weight
Ozempic helps people with type 2 diabetes.
© Florian Gaertner/Imago
Ozempic is also used for other diseases.
Its hunger-suppressing effect means that even very overweight people who have not previously been helped by diet, nutritional advice or other treatment can take Ozempic.
In some cases, a weight loss of between ten and 15 percent of the previous weight is even possible.
According to the European Medicines Agency,
the active ingredient semaglutide is responsible for the effect of Ozempic
.
Semaglutide is one of the GLP-1 agonists: active ingredients that influence blood sugar levels in the body.
The problem, however, is that Ozempic has increasingly become a trendy drug in recent months.
Celebrities like Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian use the injection to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time.
This is not without concern in that the high demand for the drug means that it is no longer sufficiently available to diabetes patients.
On the other hand, it is not safe to take the medication without any real health need.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
the most common side effects include
:
Diarrhea
constipation
Vomit
nausea
Inflammation of the pancreas
hypoglycaemia
allergic reaction
Abdominal pain
Doctors therefore only recommend the drug to diabetes patients and people who are morbidly overweight.
Healthy people should urgently avoid the weekly injection.
Ozempic also requires a prescription in Germany and other European countries.
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Aids in the fight against liver disease?
A new Swedish study from the
Karolinska Institutet
in Stockholm is now drawing renewed attention to the ingredient in the diabetes medication.
Researchers have suspected for some time that GLP-1 agonists such as semaglutide could also reduce the risk of liver damage.
During their investigation, the Swedish scientists included all people in Sweden with chronic liver disease and type 2 diabetes in a register-based study.
In order to better understand the effect of GLP-1 agonists on the liver, the researchers then compared the risk of severe liver damage in those who regularly and over a long period of time took medications containing GLP-1 agonists with those who didn't do this.
The result: The first group had a lower risk of developing serious liver damage such as cirrhosis or liver cancer over the course of their lives.
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Weak points of the study
These results are initially encouraging because they can provide helpful insights for future cancer and liver research.
But it must also be clear that the study has its limitations.
It provides initial evidence that GLP-1 agonists may be effective against liver diseases.
To be sure, clinical studies are needed.
These are still pending.
In clinical studies, specialists test medications and their effects on patients under strict conditions.
Such studies take several years and only after these final results is it clear how exactly a drug can be used.
In addition, scientists in Sweden lacked certain data.
For example, they had no information about how severely or poorly someone had liver disease.
Blood test results for this were missing.
The study results should therefore be viewed as initial evidence, but not as evidence, that GLP-1 agonists reduce the risk of liver diseases such as liver cancer.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.