Ozempic-style drugs treat type 1 diabetes, not only type 2, study finds
Semaglutide, the active ingredient of ozempic and other drugs of the same class have revolutionized the treatment of Obesity and type 2 diabetes. Now a clinical trial suggests that drugs can also treat type 1 diabetes.
The test results, published on June 23 in the journal Proof NejmSuggest that semaglutide can improve blood sugar and induce weight loss in people type 1, potentially introducing a new medication that could be used with insulin to manage the disease.
“For a hundred years, we are obsessed with the delivery of insulin and insulin … and there are not really additional drugs which are approved for type 1”, principal author of the study Dr Viral ShahA diabetes researcher at the University of Indiana, told Live Science. There are complementary drugs approved for use alongside insulin, but Shah is considering ozempic type medicines as a first line potential treatment.
THE Insulin resistance And an altered release of the digestive hormones that fuel type 2 diabetes can also exist in type 1, it is therefore logical to explore treatments for them, he said.
Type 1, type 2 and double diabetes
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes is driven by very different mechanisms.
In Type 2Pancreas cells that make insulin become less sensitive to blood sugar and produce less insulin in response. Insulin normally helps to use sugar of blood circulation in cells, so this effect causes an accumulation of blood sugar. In the meantime, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which insulin secreting cells are destroyed by its own immune system.
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There is Several drugs For type 2 diabetes which focuses on driving cells to secrete more insulin, and there is standard treatments Centered on improving blood sugar control, weight loss, high blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease by lifestyle changes. Drugs like semaglutide, known as GLP-1 agonists, control blood sugar in type 2 by reducing a hepatic hormone that increases blood sugar, as well as slowing digestion. This makes you feel more complete longer and allows the pancreas for more time to release the right amount of insulin.
However, the main way to control blood sugar in type 1 diabetes is the replacement of insulin. But type 1 diabetics, especially those who suffer from obesity, often have resistance to insulin and therefore many of the same health problems as those with type 2 – for example, cause damageFoot ulcers and damage to the eyes, all due to uncontrolled blood sugar. This condition was called “double diabetes”.
“Type 1 diabetes does not exclude the presence of type 2 diabetes,” said Shah. “People with double diabetes phenotype can benefit from some of the drugs currently approved for type 2 diabetes” “ It was the idea behind the new semaglutide test, the ingredient found in the Ozempic weight loss medication and type 2 drugs.
Researchers recruited 72 patients with type 1 diabetes and obesity, based on their Ibmi. Half of the participants received a weekly semaglutide injection and the other half of a placebo for 26 weeks. All the participants continued to use insulin if necessary throughout the test, and their blood sugar was monitored using continuous glucose monitors.
Patients taking semaglutide had better control over their blood sugar, remaining in an acceptable range of blood sugar greater than 70% of time while spending less time with low blood sugar. Treated individuals have also lost at least 5% of their body weight. But no one in the untreated group has met these three criteria.
These results support the results of others recent testsshowing that these drugs used for type 2 diabetes are worth explored in type 1 diabetics, says Ahmad HaidarDiabetes researcher at McGill University in Canada, which was not involved in the study.
“This is an important study which adds to the existing evidence of the safety and the effectiveness of the use of semaglutide in type 1, but it is not enough,” said Haidar to Live Science. “We need more evidence to help these drugs be approved by regulatory organizations.”
Shah and his colleagues hope that with more clinical trials with larger cohorts of patients, the research community will bring together enough evidence for this use of GLP-1 approved by Food and Drug Administration and added to the Standards of Care of the American Diabetes Association for Health Insurance.
“And if that happens, I think it would probably be the first medication beyond insulin for people with type 1 diabetes to use,” said Shah. “It’s really exciting that it’s going forward.”
This article is for information only and is not supposed to offer medical advice.
