The drug semaglutide, commonly known by the brand names Ozempic or Wegovy, was originally developed to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels. However, researchers have discovered it may help with other health issues, too. Clinical trials show semaglutide can be effective for weight loss , and hundreds of thousands of people around the world are using it for this purpose .
Evidence has also shown the drug can help manage heart failure and chronic kidney disease in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Now, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested semaglutide can improve knee pain in people with obesity and osteoarthritis. So what did this study find, and how could semaglutide and osteoarthritis pain be linked? Osteoarthritis and obesity Osteoarthritis is a common joint disease, affecting 2.
1 million Australians . Most people with osteoarthritis have pain and find it difficult to perform common daily activities such as walking. The knee is the joint most commonly affected by osteoarthritis.
Being overweight or obese is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis in the knee. The link between the two conditions is complex . It involves a combination of increased load on the knee, metabolic factors such as high cholesterol and high blood sugar, and inflammation.
For example, elevated blood sugar levels increase the production of inflammatory molecules in the body, which can damage the cartilage in the knee, and lead to the de.