Lowering Risk of Alzheimer's in Diabetes Patients? Semaglutide May Help, Study Suggests - Video

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have found that, when compared to seven other anti-diabetic drugs, semaglutide, a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

The study, published today in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, suggests type 2 diabetes patients taking semaglutide had a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. These results were consistent across different subgroups, including obesity status, gender and age.

The research team—led by biomedical informatics professor Rong Xu—analyzed three years of electronic records of nearly 1 million U.S. patients with type 2 diabetes. The researchers used a statistical approach that mimics a randomized clinical trial.

They found patients prescribed semaglutide had a significantly lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease, compared to those who had taken any of seven other anti-diabetic medications, including other types of GLP-1R-targeting medications.

Reference: Wang W, Wang QQ, Qi X, et al. Associations of semaglutide with first-time diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: Target trial emulation using nationwide real-world data in the US. Alzheimer's Dement. 2024; 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14313