A recent study discovered that Ozempic, widely used for type 2 Diabetes and weight loss, may provide an unexpected benefit: A minimised risk of bone fractures.
Researchers presenting findings at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago reported that people suffering from the type 2 diabetes treated with semaglutide had a 15% reduced risk of bone fractures compared with those consuming other diabetes medications.
For the research, people assessed health records from nearly 161 million patients treated in U.S. hospitals between 2016 and 2023.
Scientists compared over 26,000 patients on semaglutide with more than 33,000 patients on alternative treatments.
While the semaglutide group saw a significant weight loss, they also recorded some fractures, 794 cases versus 1,045 in the control group.
Lead researcher Jairo Noreña, formerly of Stanford University Medical Center, stated, "We hope this study encourages monitoring of bone health in weight-loss programs.”
He stated the findings underscored the significance of monitoring bone health during weight-loss treatments.
Prior studies have sparked concerns that rapid weight loss from GLP-1 medicines may minimise bone density and raise fracture risk.
However, research suggests that semaglutide may not carry the same risk, and could even have a protective effect.
Experts underscored that these findings are still preliminary, as they were presented at a medical conference and have not yet to be published in a scientific journal.
