Semaglutide doesn't Increase Suicidal Ideation in obese Diabetes Patients

Written By : Jacinthlyn Sylvia |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2024-01-10T20:30:28+05:30 | Updated On 10 Jan 2024 8:30 PM IST

A recent study published in the recent edition of Nature Medicine Journal found that semaglutide, the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R) agonist is not associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. Since some reports linked semaglutide used for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and obesity with suicidal ideation, the European regulatory agencies launched investigations. But, this recent retrospective cohort study was conducted on electronic health records from the TriNetX Analytics Network which offered contrasting findings.

This study encompassed 240,618 patients with overweight or obesity and compared those prescribed semaglutide to those on non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity medicines. These results were replicated in a substantial group of 1,589,855 T2DM patients. This analysis included calculating hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident and recurrent suicidal ideation during a follow-up of 6 months with a focus on propensity score-matched patient groups.

In contrary to the previous concerns, the patients with overweight or obesity (mean age 50.1 years, 72.6% female) included in the study revealed that semaglutide when compared to non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity medications was associated with a lower risk for both incident (HR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.20–0.32) and recurrent (HR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32–0.60) suicidal ideation.

The results of the study were replicated in patients with T2DM (mean age 57.5 years, 49.2% female) which further supports the conclusion that semaglutide does not pose a higher risk of suicidal ideation compared to non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity or anti-diabetes drugs. The investigation strengthens valuable inputs into the safety profile of this widely used medication for T2DM and obesity by potentially reducing fears among patients and healthcare professionals.

Source:

Wang, W., Volkow, N. D., Berger, N. A., Davis, P. B., Kaelber, D. C., & Xu, R. (2024). Association of semaglutide with risk of suicidal ideation in a real-world cohort. In Nature Medicine. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02672-2

Nature Medicine JournalsemaglutideSuicidal Ideation

Source : Nature Medicine

Jacinthlyn Sylvia

Neuroscience Masters graduate

Jacinthlyn Sylvia, a Neuroscience Master's graduate from Chennai has worked extensively in deciphering the neurobiology of cognition and motor control in aging. She also has spread-out exposure to Neurosurgery from her Bachelor’s. She is currently involved in active Neuro-Oncology research. She is an upcoming neuroscientist with a fiery passion for writing. Her news cover at Medical Dialogues feature recent discoveries and updates from the healthcare and biomedical research fields. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751