A weight loss drug similar to could slow down the , according to new research. GLP-1 agonists, a family of treatments that help people manage diabetes, have soared in popularity in large thanks to their ability to also assist people in rapidly . However, the new findings, which were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia last week, suggest that they may have another use.
The research, which hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet, suggests they . “What we’ve shown is that these GLP-1s have great potential to be a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Paul Edison, a professor of neuroscience at Imperial College London.
“As a class of drugs, this holds great promise," she added. In a clinical trial of more than 200 people with mild Alzheimer's disease, a daily injection of a GLP-1 for a year appeared to slow cognitive decline. The study used liraglutide, the active ingredient in GLP-1 drugs, Saxenda, a weight loss drug, and Victoza, a diabetes drug, from Novo Nordisk.
Participants either received a daily injection of liraglutide or a placebo. Cognitive decline in the patients who received liraglutide slowed by 18% within a year compared to those with the placebo. The findings were based on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale, which is used to track the progression of the disease by assessing the patient's memory, language, skills, understanding, and reasoning abilities.
The study also found that liraglutide reduced shrinkage in parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, and decision-making by nearly 50%. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, nearly 7 million people in the US suffer from the disease and by 2025 this is estimated to nearly double to 13 million. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's but GLP-1 drugs offer a new hope.
“I think there’s some hope for these drugs,” said Dr. Ronald Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who is not involved with the research. “Their primary use is diabetes and weight loss, but you’ve probably also seen that they may be useful for sleep apnea and heart disease.
So all of these effects cumulatively may be very beneficial to the brain.”.
