POPULAR WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS BRING UNEXPECTED HEART HEALTH BENEFITS—RESEARCHERS DISCUSS IMPLICATIONS

Weight loss drugs like Ozempic deliver more health benefits than expected.

In a study published in the journal Life, Professor Mary Schooling, Professor Ghada Soliman, and colleagues note that people using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) like semaglutide (Ozempic) have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, even before substantial weight loss occurs.

The authors explain that semaglutide likely operates immediately via calorie restriction and activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which essentially controls the body's metabolism. Several effective means of preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, such as metformin and statins respectively, also act via AMPK.

"Our hypothesis is that AMPK activation is a necessary lever for effective prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic diseases and related conditions, such as liver and kidney disease," says Dr. Schooling.

"As such, the likely effectiveness of existing or potential interventions, including diet and lifestyle, for these conditions, from any tradition, depends on their effect on AMPK, directly or via calorie restriction."

The authors say the hypothesis provides an over-arching physiological theory concerning the means of preventing and treating some of the chronic diseases that play a major role in population health.

More information: C. Mary Schooling et al, A Hypothesis That Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Exert Immediate and Multifaceted Effects by Activating Adenosine Monophosphate-Activate Protein Kinase (AMPK), Life (2025). DOI: 10.3390/life15020253

Provided by The City University of New York

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2025-03-12T15:56:32Z