Meds like Ozempic Could Help Lower Liver Disease Risk
A big study done all over Sweden says that meds like Ozempic might help lower the chance of cirrhosis and liver cancer in folks with type 2 diabetes and a bad liver. This shows a new way to treat bad liver sickness.
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The Karolinska Institutet in Sweden did this study. They published it in a science book called Gut. It says using Ozempic and drugs like it could mean you're less likely to get cirrhosis or liver cancer if you have type 2 diabetes and a bad liver.
Ozempic is a type 2 diabetes drug. It helps lower your blood sugar. But it also makes you less hungry, so now folks use it to lose weight too.
Less risk of liver harm
Early tests show that drugs like Ozempic might help stop liver harm too. So, the Karolinska Institutet wanted to see if that's true. They looked at all folks in Sweden with a bad liver and type 2 diabetes. Then they saw if those who took Ozempic had less risk of getting really bad liver sickness like cirrhosis or liver cancer.
And guess what? The folks who took this drug for a long time had a lower risk of getting really sick liver stuff later on.
The folks doing the study think this means that drugs like Ozempic could be a good way to keep folks with type 2 diabetes from getting really sick livers.
Axel Wester, who is a teacher at the Karolinska Institutet, says, "Lots of folks in Sweden have a fat liver, and many of them have type 2 diabetes too. About one in five folks have a fat liver, and about one in twenty get really bad liver sickness. Our findings are cool 'cause we don't have any drugs yet that can help stop this."
But there's a catch. Lots of folks in the study stopped taking Ozempic, so they didn't get the protection. But those who kept taking it for ten years were half as likely to get really sick liver stuff.
More tests needed
Axel Wester also says, "We need more tests to be sure, but those take a long time. So, we're using the info we have to try and see if these drugs help before we finish the big tests."
One problem with this study is they couldn't control every factor, like blood tests to see how bad the liver sickness was. But the researchers just made a new database that could help with that.
Hannes Hagström, who's also in charge of the study, says, "Next, we'll check our new database to see if it shows the same thing. If it does, that would be more proof that these drugs can help stop really bad liver sickness."
The study was paid for by the Region Stockholm, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swedish Cancer Society. Hannes Hagström's group got money from some drug companies, but not for this study.
