Scientists Just Uncovered A Major Alzheimer's Finding—And It Involves Ozempic
It's hard to keep up with all of the potential perks of going on a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication like Ozempic. So far, researchers have found that these meds may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, tamp down on symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and even treat addiction. Of course, that's on top of what they're designed to do—help with blood sugar control and weight loss.
Now, a growing body of research suggests GLP-1s may also help lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, too. And there's one more study to add to the mix.
New research published in JAMA Neurology found a link between people who took GLP-1 receptor agonists and a lowered risk of Alzheimer's disease, which makes even more of a case for going on one of these medications.
Here's what experts think of the new study and how it might apply to you.
Meet the experts: Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA; Verna Porter, MD, neurologist and director of the Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA
For the study, researchers analyzed health records of 396,963 people in Florida between January 2014 to June 2023. All of the participants were at least 50 years old and had type 2 diabetes. None had been diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and related dementias at the start of the study.
The researchers discovered that people who took GLP-1 receptor agonists (like Ozempic) or a type of medicine known as SGLT2 inhibitors (which are also used to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes) had a statistically significant lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias compared to people who were on other medications to lower blood sugar.
People with type 2 diabetes are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. (Research suggests that people with type 2 diabetes have a 50 percent higher risk of developing dementia.)
The reason for that could be tied to things like insulin resistance, inflammation, and a higher risk of vascular damage, which are risk factors for Alzheimer's disease—and GLP-1 receptor agonists can lower the risks of those complications, explains Verna Porter, MD, neurologist and director of the Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.
But these medications can also help people lose weight, feel better, and be able to lead a healthier lifestyle, points out Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. 'When patients lose weight, risk factors [for Alzheimer's disease] like heart disease and diabetes improve, too,' he says.
Dr. Porter says she has 'cautious optimism' about the latest study results, noting that she treats many patients who have both type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
GLP-1 receptor agonists work in the body in a few different ways. But these medications specifically signal to your brain to feel less hungry, making it less likely that you'll overeat, Dr. Ali explains.
As a result, many people lose weight on these drugs. But the exact mechanisms of how the drug works in the brain in doing things like tamping down food noise, addiction, and now, decreasing Alzheimer's risk, is still under investigation.
This isn't the first study to find a link between GLP-1 receptor agonists and a lowered risk of Alzheimer's disease in people with type 2 diabetes. A study published in October in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia found that people who took semaglutide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication) had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to people who took other medications to treat type 2 diabetes.
Another study published in Nature Medicine in January found that people who took GLP-1 receptor agonist medications had a lowered risk of developing a slew of health conditions, including dementia.
It's important to point out that a lot of these studies look at the impact of GLP-1 receptor agonists on people with type 2 diabetes. Meaning, it's not clear if taking these medications without having type 2 diabetes will have an impact on your Alzheimer's risk.
But this growing body of research is definitely raising a lot of questions—and possibilities for treatment—as it unfolds.
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Scientists May Have Identified a Natural Alternative to Ozempic
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Does This Side Effect Spell Doom for the GLP-1's?
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Welcome to Impact Factor , your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I'm Dr F. Perry Wilson from the Yale School of Medicine. About a year ago, I was talking to one of my friends about the slew of studies showing very broad benefits of the GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide (Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). including weight loss and improved diabetes control. But studies also showed improved heart and kidney health, as well as lower overall mortality. Some analyses found reductions in problem drinking, smoking, and even compulsive shopping among people taking these drugs. I told my friend that I thought these drugs were complete game changers, fundamentally 'anticonsumption' agents that are the cure for society's primary ill of overconsumption. 'Yeah, but what about the side effects?' he said. I said, 'Sure, some gastrointestinal issues can come up, but usually it's not that bad.' 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They were on the lookout for conditions that some smaller studies had suggested might be associated with the weight-loss drugs: disorders of the optic nerve — in particular, a rather rare condition that can occur even outside diabetes, known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). This is a syndrome caused by a decline in blood supply to the optic nerve and is characterized by the sudden and painless loss of eyesight in one eye, which can lead to permanent blindness. It seems straightforward to ask which group — those who got the GLP-1 drugs or those who took other diabetes drugs — had more eye problems. But you probably suspect that these two groups weren't exactly comparable even before they started the drug. People who took weight-loss drugs were younger, more likely to be female, more likely to be on antihypertensive drugs, more likely to have a history of sleep apnea, and much more likely to have obesity. This is a classic apples-vs-oranges problem in observational research, one that was overcome, in this case, through a form of statistical wizardry called propensity score matching. In this process, each patient is assigned a likelihood of being prescribed the weight-loss drug, and then they are matched with someone with similar propensities. Thus, only one of each pair actually received the drug. Naturally, not everyone was matched; the apples and oranges that were just too appley or orangey were dropped from further analysis. After matching, the two groups were much more similar. Now that we have two similar groups — one of orangish apples and the other of appley oranges — we can compare the rates of NAION between them. Of 79,699 individuals started on either Ozempic or Mounjaro, 35 developed NAION within 2 years of follow-up. Of 79,699 started on non-GLP-1 diabetes drugs, 19 developed NAION over a similar duration of follow-up. That's 0.04% compared with 0.02%. There are a couple of ways to look at the data. On the relative scale, we see nearly a doubling of the risk for this eyesight-threatening disorder among people taking GLP-1 drugs. But on the absolute scale, any given individual's chance of actually getting this disorder is vanishingly small; the rate in the GLP-1 group was 462 per million individuals, compared with a baseline rate of about 238 per million individuals. Identifying rare risks like this is still important, especially for drugs that are as widely prescribed as the GLP-1's. Patients and providers need to have this in the back of their minds so that, if an unusual eye symptom does develop, everyone can react quickly. It's still not clear how these drugs could lead to NAION. It's true that the optic nerve has GLP-1 receptors on it, so this could be a direct drug effect. But the researchers suggest other possibilities as well, including the idea that sudden metabolic changes associated with weight loss or glucose effects from the drugs may change the microenvironment of the eye. I hate to fall back on 'more research is necessary,' but the truth is, more research is necessary to figure out how this works and, importantly, who is most at risk. I should remind you that this study shows us correlation, not causation. Even with propensity score matching, there will still be differences between the comparison groups that aren't fully accounted for. Beyond that, the very fact that people may be on alert for eye disorders among those taking GLP-1's may become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy in a study like this. If physicians are primed to think of a rare diagnosis like NAION when they see a patient on a GLP-1 drug, they might be more likely to make the diagnosis than they would if presented with exactly the same symptoms in someone not taking the drug. When the outcome is rare like this, minor biases can drive the results. So, I'm not ready to go back on my statement that these drugs are game changers. They clearly are. But we'd be naive to assume that there wouldn't be some risk. I'm encouraged that this particular risk is not nearly of a magnitude and frequency to counteract the obvious benefits of the drugs. In the end, this is one of those knowledge-is-power things. I don't think we'll see enthusiasm dampen for the GLP-1 drugs because of NAION, but it doesn't hurt for any of us — patients or providers — to be aware of it.
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"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." From time-restricted eating to alternate-day fasting, one meal a day fasting, and extended fasts, there are many forms of intermittent fasting (IF) that have been popularized in recent years. More an eating plan than a diet, IF doesn't say what you should eat but when, limiting your food consumption to eating windows of different lengths depending on the plan you choose. So, one woman decided to try intermittent fasting for a week to see if she could see any benefits. What might those benefits be? A 2025 review published in The BMJ confirmed that all forms of IF can be effective for weight loss, while other studies have linked it to lower fasting blood sugar and insulin levels and the potential to extend lifespans. Here's what one woman learned after she tried 18:6 intermittent fasting for one week, in her own words: For best results, gradually extend your fast. 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"I work better with routine," shared Young. "When I was looking into intermittent fasting, I discovered neuroscientist Mark Mattson, author of The Intermittent Fasting Revolution, who has been researching the benefits of intermittent fasting for the brain. He has also been intermittent fasting himself for 35 years, so I emailed him for his tried-and-true advice. Here's what he said: "I would suggest that in the morning you drink some tea or coffee and keep busy working until 1 p.m. If you usually exercise, then you may want to exercise at noon. Then eat a moderate amount of (healthy) food right after you exercise (e.g., 600 calories) and eat the rest of your food during a three-to-four-hour time window in the late afternoon to early evening. The biggest benefit is that your mind will be clearer and you will be more productive during the entire morning." So that's what I did. I crossed off the majority of my work to-dos in the morning while drinking a ton—water, black coffee, bulletproof coffee, and green tea. At around 11 a.m. my stomach siren would go off, but knowing that noon yoga or a hike wasn't far off pushed me through. By the time I got home from yoga (around 1:30 p.m.), the hunger wasn't as overwhelming so I could eat my first meal, usually Greek yogurt with berries and slivered almonds, without ravenously wolfing it down. The rest of the day was easy: I usually ate dinner and maybe a sweet snack and that's it. Within a couple of days this became my new normal, the hangry switch turned off, and Mark was right: All that mental energy previously devoted to food—food prep, food planning, food consuming, food cleanup—seemed to flow elsewhere for improved focus." Hunger pangs will come and go. "There are a lot of food myths I used to eat up, but it turns out that you neither need to eat breakfast every day nor eat frequently throughout the day to keep your metabolism humming," Young said. "Something else I discovered: Hunger pangs don't automatically lead to overeating. I used to answer the call of cravings like I spring to the ding of a text—often and with urgency—but fasting taught me how to be comfortable with the discomfort of hunger. What helped? Coffee, tea, keeping a schedule (see above) and knowing that hunger is just a sensation that comes and goes. Just make sure you don't take it too far, because intermittent fasting doesn't mean you should be starving yourself." The rules are incredibly easy to follow. "When you commit to a diet like, say, Weight Watchers or Whole30, you've got points to add, forbidden foods to avoid, and a checklist of dos and don'ts that can make your head explode. Intermittent fasting rules are ridiculously simple, no guidebook or cookbook required, and you don't have to limit what foods you are eating. Wine, chocolate, and dessert are fair game!" said Young. "The other thing that worked out in my favor was that it felt dang good. Granted, the first couple of hangry days were no fun, but on the other side of that, my energy levels skyrocketed, eating became an experience to be enjoyed rather than just food to be wolfed down, and everything seemed to have more flavor. Did strawberries always taste so sweet?" Exercising in a fasted state can feel good. "I never exercise on an empty stomach," Young said. "As a rule, I put something in the tank two hours before a hike or yoga class to make sure I don't peter pass out. But it turns out that exercising in a fasted state worked for me. Instead of feeling light-headed, I had more grit and go. I marched up that mountain on a mission and planked with more purpose. And I was pleased to discover that science shows that exercising in a fasted state can supercharge your body's fat-burning potential." There are benefits beyond the scale. "I'd love to say I lost 10 pounds in a week, but my body doesn't really work that way," Young said. "And besides, I only fasted for seven days. I'm definitely eating less food and weirdly feeling less hungry, which over time will result in fat loss. Plus, it's intermittent fasting's built-in intrinsic motivation that keeps me going. My energy, focus, and motivation have all skyrocketed, and I've learned how to tell my hunger pangs who's boss. I'm happy to enjoy those benefits now and wait for the pounds to come off later." This story was originally published in 2018 but has since been updated. You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
