Healthy Returns: Diabetes drug Ozempic can reduce dementia risk and nicotine consumption

Good morning! Novo NordiskChina's successful diabetes drug Ozempic could have more to supply than simply regulating blood sugar and promoting weight reduction.

This is the results of a brand new study from the University of Oxford. evaluation The study, published last week, concluded that Ozempic may reduce the danger of dementia and a variety of other mental health problems in comparison with other existing treatments for patients with diabetes. In addition, the researchers found that Ozempic reduced nicotine dependence in these patients.

These findings add to the long list of potential health advantages of Ozempic and other hugely popular GLP-1 treatments, equivalent to Novo Nordisk's weight-loss injectable Wegovy and medicines from competitor Eli Lilly.

Large clinical trials have already shown that semaglutide, the lively ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, can reduce the danger of great cardiovascular complications and kidney disease. Other studies are studying GLP-1 in patients with sleep apnea and fatty liver disease, in addition to other conditions, and whether the drugs can curb addictive behaviors equivalent to alcohol consumption and even gambling.

Now let's take a have a look at the information from the brand new evaluation, published Thursday within the Lancet's journal eClinicalMedicine.

The study relied on medical records of greater than 100,000 U.S. diabetes patients, including greater than 20,000 who were prescribed semaglutide between December 2017 and May 2021.

The researchers compared semaglutide with three other diabetes treatments: Merck's Januvia or sitagliptin; PfizerGlucotrol or glipizide; and Eli Lilly and Jardiance or empagliflozin from Boehringer Ingelheim. They compared the risks of twenty-two neurological and psychiatric outcomes inside one yr of treatment with the assorted diabetes medications.

Overall, in accordance with the researchers, Ozempic was related to a lower risk of cognitive problems and nicotine dependence.

After one yr, patients taking Ozempic had a 48% lower risk of developing dementia than patients taking Januvia. The risk in Ozempic patients was also 37% lower than in patients taking Glucotrol and 9% lower than in patients taking Jardiance.

In particular, earlier Research found that diabetes patients have the next risk of developing dementia.

Patients taking Ozempic also had an 18% reduction in nicotine dependence in comparison with patients taking Januvia. Nicotine dependence was also 28% lower in Ozempic patients in comparison with patients taking Glucotrol and 23% lower in patients taking Jardiance.

“Our results suggest that the use of semaglutide could go beyond the treatment of diabetes and may offer unexpected benefits in the treatment and prevention of cognitive decline and substance abuse,” said Dr. Riccardo De Giorgi, clinical lecturer on the University of Oxford and lead writer of the study, in a opinion.

However, the authors stressed that the evaluation was an observational study and the outcomes would must be reproduced in a controlled trial by which patients are randomly assigned to take Ozempic and the opposite drugs, said Dr. Max Taquet, one other clinical lecturer at Oxford and lead study writer.

We will proceed to watch future research on this area, so stay tuned for our coverage.

Please send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

Latest technology in healthcare

UnitedHealth GroupThe problems with cyber attacks are usually not over yet.

The healthcare giant reported Second quarter results on Tuesday it beat analysts' estimates for revenue and earnings, but raised its forecast for the expected per-share impact from the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

UnitedHealth reported revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, narrowly beating the $98.84 billion expected by analysts, in accordance with LSEG. The company's adjusted earnings per share for the period were $6.80, while Wall Street had expected $6.66 per share.

UnitedHealth reiterated its adjusted full-year earnings guidance of $27.50 to $28, but reported an estimated impact from the business disruption of 60 cents to 70 cents per share, up from the 30 cents to 40 cents per share the corporate had previously provided. last quarter. UnitedHealth said the impact of the business disruption resulted in lost revenue and “the costs of maintaining full operational readiness” of Change Healthcare’s affected services.

UnitedHealth shares rose about 3% on Tuesday morning.

Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, offers payment and revenue cycle management tools. According to the corporate's website, it processes over 15 billion billing transactions annually and one in three patient records passes through its systems.

In February, UnitedHealth discovered that a cybercriminal had hacked a part of Change Healthcare's IT network. The company isolated and disconnected the affected systems “immediately after discovering” the threat, in accordance with a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The disruption had serious consequences for the whole U.S. health care system, as many doctors were temporarily unable to fill prescriptions or receives a commission for his or her services. Some providers withdrew 1000’s of dollars from their personal savings to remain afloat.

In May, UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty announced that the corporate had paid attackers a $22 million ransom to forestall them from releasing patients' personal health information. He estimated that the breach could affect as much as a 3rd of all Americans.

UnitedHealth said Tuesday it has restored “the majority” of Change Healthcare's services, in accordance with its revenue releaseThe company said it had also provided greater than $9 billion in advances to providers in need, the press release said.

Read UnitedHealth's full earnings report Here.

Feel free to send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.

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