Context: According to a new study, semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular blood sugar control and weight loss drugs, can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in people with type 2 diabetes.
Major Highlights:
- Early research on semaglutide identifies a number of ways in which it might benefit the brain, such as:
- Lowering toxic effects of certain proteins linked to AD and improving how brain cells use glucose for energy.
- Reducing the buildup of harmful plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s.
- Reducing neuro-inflammation, which is commonly linked to Alzheimer.
- Specifically, it was found to reduce the risk of a first-time Alzheimer’s diagnosis by 40% to 70%.
Alzheimer’s disease:
- Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes the brain to shrink (atrophy) and brain cells to die. Alzheimer’s causes a gradual decline in memory, thinking, behaviour, and social skills, and it is the most common cause of dementia.
- Causes: The disease is thought to be caused by the abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells.
- One of the proteins involved is called amyloid, deposits of which form plaques around brain cells.
- The other protein is called tau, which is a deposit that forms tangles within brain cells.
- Symptoms: Early signs include forgetting recent events/conversations. Later, the person will develop severe memory impairment and lose the ability to carry out everyday tasks. In the advanced stages, complications from severe loss of brain function result in death.
- Treatment: Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but certain medications can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms.
- Traditionally, Alzheimer’s has been managed largely using cognitive and lifestyle interventions.
- Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two treatments — Biogen’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla — that marginally slow the progression of AD by targeting the disease’s hallmark amyloid plaques in the brain. But these can cause serious side effects, including brain swelling and brain bleeding.