Drugs used for weight loss could help reduce anxiety and depression, a new study revealed.
Ozempic and Wegovy, which are two common obesity jabs, may help alleviate the symptoms of mental health conditions.
They can also help cut the risk of drug abuse and binge drinking, scientists discovered.
An international team of experts analysed the impact these medications had on mental health issues, using data on patients diagnosed with anxiety or depression.
They studied figures from Sweden on more than 95,000 people over a 13-year period, including 22,480 who used semaglutide – the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy.
Wegovy weight loss drug packet with needles. Pic: PA
Both were linked with a lower risk of worsening mental illness compared to those who didn’t use the injections, the scientists found.
Semaglutide was associated with a 44% lower risk of worsening depression and a 38% decreased risk of worsening anxiety.
It was also linked to a lower risk of substance abuse, the experts said.
Another active ingredient known as liraglutide, which is used in Saxenda, was also linked to a lower risk of worsening depression.
Wegovy is regularly prescribed on the NHS to treat weight loss, while Ozempic should only given out for diabetes, according to the Department of Health.
Writing in The Lancet Psychiatry, the study authors from University of Eastern Finland, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and Griffith University in Australia, said: “For anxiety and depression that co-occur with diabetes and obesity, semaglutide and, to a lesser extent, liraglutide might be useful dually effective therapeutic options.”
Ozempic and Wegovy both have the same active ingredient, semaglutide, a drug known as a GLP-1 receptor agonists, that mimics a type of hormone which lowers blood sugar and reduces appetite and is also used to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Research director Markku Lahteenvuo, from the University of Eastern Finland, said: “Because this is a registry-based study, we cannot determine exactly why or how these medications affect mood symptoms, but the association was quite strong.
“It is possible that, in addition to factors such as reduced alcohol consumption, weight loss-related improvements in body image, or relief associated with better glycaemic control in diabetes, there may also be direct neurobiological mechanisms involved – for example, through changes in the functioning of the brain’s reward system.”
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It comes as a separate study examined accidental pregnancies among people taking GLP-1 receptor agonists during early pregnancy.
Researchers from Denmark wanted to assess whether taking the drugs for diabetes or to reduce weight was linked to the risk of pre-term birth – when a baby is born early, before 37 weeks.
Academics looked at Danish health records for 480,231 women, with a combined 756,636 pregnancies.
Some 529 had accidentally taken GLP-1s liraglutide or semaglutide in early pregnancy.
They found that exposure to GLP-1 receptor agonists was with increased pre-term birth risk when used for diabetes treatment, but not among those taking the treatment for weight management.
Researchers said the finding suggested “the underlying diabetes rather than the medication may be the causal factor”.
Ozempic is a diabetes medication that has been used by some patients for weight loss, but it is not currently prescribed by the NHS for this use.
