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Why do Ozempic and Wegovy seem to treat everything?

From Alzheimer's disease to depression to heart disease, Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonist drugs appear to offer a solution. Can one type of drug really tackle so many conditions, and if so, how does it actually work?

By Helen Thomson

3 December 2024

·ď»Ë˛ĘƱ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

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It is rare that a drug becomes a household name and even rarer for one to become a superstar, but with its ability to grab headlines, Ozempic is the Taylor Swift of pharmaceuticals. So just what lies behind its star power? Even as the drug and its derivatives take off, researchers are racing to find out how it works.

“We’re seeing so many incredible benefits,” says at the University of Illinois. “It’s early days, but it’s looking like these drugs aren’t just going to change medicine but our whole economy.”

Most medicines only treat one or two conditions, meaning that “cure-alls” promising to tackle any and all ailments are usually viewed with scepticism and suspicion. Ozempic seems to buck that trend. Last year, Wegovy – a version of Ozempic approved for weight loss – was shown to by almost 20 per cent. The emergence of “Ozempic pregnancies” hinted at . People started noticing positive effects on depression and anxiety. In May, and death in people with diabetes during a three-year trial. In July, another version of and slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Why this drug is helping so many conditions is still mysterious,…

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