In an observational study published in the latest issue of Nature Medicine, scientists analyzed the health effects of using glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), concluding that 42 health risks decreased and 19 health risks increased.

GLP-1RAs have become popular in the past few years because of their claims of weight loss. People are also studying the broader efficacy of GLP-1RAs, including the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea. However, some adverse events such as suicidal tendencies and gastrointestinal problems have also been reported. Therefore, it is necessary to further study the health benefits and risks of GLP-1RAs.

A team from Washington University in St. Louis analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and studied the relationship between the use of GLP-1RAs and 175 health outcomes in 215,970 diabetic patients. Compared with a control group using non-GLP-1RA anti-hyperglycemic drugs, participants using GLP-1RA had a lower risk of coagulation and cardiometabolic diseases (such as deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke, cardiac arrest, heart failure, and myocardial infarction). They also proposed other potential beneficial effects, including associations with lower risks of mental illness, epilepsy, bacterial infection, and pneumonia. At the same time, they also found that the use of GLP-1RA was associated with gastrointestinal diseases (such as nausea and vomiting, diverticulitis, gastritis, and abdominal pain) as well as increased risk of hypotension, syncope, and arthritis.

The team emphasized that the findings are observational and cannot indicate causality, but these findings help describe the broad health effects of GLP-1RA.

Source: https://finance.eastmoney.com/