Health Benefits of Semaglutide

Semaglutide has been linked to better heart health, which is a major additional health benefit of the drug. Research shows that semaglutide reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure in individuals with or without diabetes.

A large-scale clinical trial on overweight adults with known cardiovascular disease but without diabetes found that semaglutide reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 20%.

Similarly, a clinical trial of individuals with diabetes and heart disease found that patients given semaglutide had a 26% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those receiving a placebo.

The benefits of semaglutide extend from weight loss to improving the risk of cardiovascular events, as shown by these results. In the UK, the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) has approved semaglutide as a preventative treatment for those with established cardiovascular disease.

Another health benefit of semaglutide is its ability to treat and perhaps prevent type 2 diabetes, one of the most common chronic illnesses in the UK.

Medications like Wegovy and Ozempic are GLP-1 agonists (glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists) and were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes by helping the body to produce more insulin and regulating blood sugar. A review of several controlled trials found that semaglutide was more effective at lowering HbA1c (blood sugar levels) than placebos and other antidiabetic agents.

Semaglutide is a proven viable treatment for type 2 diabetes, but now research also suggests that semaglutide may help to prevent diabetes. This study found that, compared to a placebo, long-term semaglutide resulted in more people achieving normal blood glucose levels and fewer people developing biochemical diabetes. The study included people without diabetes who are overweight or obese and have pre-existing cardiovascular disease.

This is an added benefit for those who take semaglutide for weight loss and are at risk of developing diabetes.

Semaglutide is an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes because it works by improving the production and release of insulin when blood sugar levels are high, but this also means that it has additional benefits for kidney health and function.

High blood sugar levels can cause damage to kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD) or kidney failure. Therefore, when high blood sugar levels are lowered by semaglutide, the kidneys are more protected from damage.

A study of patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease found that participants taking semaglutide showed a reduction of 24% in kidney disease progression and kidney failure. This is an important additional health benefit of semaglutide for those at risk of CKD and the medications licensed uses are likely to be adjusted accordingly soon.

Semaglutide may have additional benefits for our brain health and reduce the risks of developing certain diseases.

Alzheimer’s disease

Conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes are known to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. But, research is beginning to suggest that the use of semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and other GLP-1s for these conditions could also help to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

A study looking at emerging data found that semaglutide use for type 2 diabetes resulted in significantly lower rates of Alzheimer's diagnosis compared to insulin.

While this is promising, clinical trials are still ongoing and much more research is needed to confirm this additional benefit of semaglutide.

Addiction

Semaglutide could also help with addiction and substance misuse, for example with nicotine or alcohol. This is because semaglutide works in the brain as well as the stomach, targeting areas that are responsible for dopamine, addiction, and cravings. This means, the reward pathways in the brain (parts in your brain that make you feel good when something nice happens) which are linked to addiction may be positively affected by semaglutide. For example, research has found that semaglutide was superior to a number of other antidiabetic drugs at reducing substance misuse, notably nicotine.

Further study is needed to confirm this benefit but if true it means that semaglutide could play a potential future role in treatment plans for addiction. The only studies available are not specifically clinically focused on addiction and semaglutide.

Semaglutide may also have benefits for liver health and further research is underway to demonstrate its beneficial effects on liver diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

This study showed that semaglutide is safe for use in individuals with liver disease but it also found evidence of semaglutide improving symptoms of the disease like steatosis and inflammation of the liver. This is a promising additional benefit of the medication.

Sleep apnea and snoring issues are closely linked to being overweight or obese, because carrying extra weight can put pressure on your airways making it hard for you to breathe normally during sleep.

Weight loss injections like Wegovy (semaglutide) or other GLP-1s are likely to improve your apnea symptoms if you suffer with this condition, or reduce your risk of developing it by helping you to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

You can read more about the connection between being overweight and sleep apnea in our guide.

Being overweight or diabetic may increase the risk of colon cancer, but research suggests that taking semaglutide or other GLP-1s for diabetes or weight management could reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

This study compared rates of colon cancer in diabetics individuals taking antidiabetic medications to rates of those taking GLP-s. It found evidence of a decreased risk of colon cancer in those using GLP-1s, which may be another added benefit of semaglutide, however the reason for this is not yet known and more research is necessary.

While research shows that semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic) may have a number of additional health benefits besides weight loss, it is not right for everyone and it is not a miracle drug. It is important to remember that like all medications, semaglutide can have side effects and be dangerous if used incorrectly.

Some of its more common side effects include:

• nausea (feeling or being sick),
• diarrhoea,
• constipation,
• abdominal pain,
• headaches
• dizziness
• acid reflux, heartburn or indigestion

Semaglutide is not suitable for anyone under 18 years of age or anyone with a history of pancreatitis, type 1 diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, or diabetic ketoacidosis. It is also not suitable for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Find more information on side effects of semaglutide in our guide.