The same drug millions take for diabetes and weight loss might be quietly helping their lungs too. New research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona has found that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, is linked to nearly 40% fewer asthma attacks — an unexpected bonus for a medication already reshaping how doctors treat diabetes and obesity.
The study was led by Professor Chloe Bloom, Clinical Associate Professor in Respiratory Epidemiology at Imperial College London’s National Heart & Lung Institute, and presented by Dr. Bohee Lee. The team wanted to explore something that hadn’t been closely studied before: whether GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide, known for their anti-inflammatory effects, might also ease breathing conditions such as asthma and COPD, since these outcomes had never been tracked in earlier GLP-1 drug trials.
To find out, researchers turned to real-world UK health records rather than a lab setting. They ran four parallel studies, each involving 20,000 to 22,000 people who had started either a GLP-1 medication or a different diabetes drug called a sulfonylurea. The comparison revealed a clear pattern — people with asthma or COPD who were on GLP-1 therapies had noticeably fewer flare-ups than those on other diabetes medications.
Semaglutide, in particular, stood out. Patients with asthma who used it saw nearly a 40% drop in attacks, while those with COPD experienced roughly 20% fewer flare-ups. For people who already qualify for these drugs due to diabetes or obesity, that could mean an added, unplanned benefit for their respiratory health.
Still, Bloom was careful to temper expectations. She stressed that the findings, while encouraging, aren’t strong enough on their own to justify prescribing GLP-1 drugs specifically for asthma or COPD. People shouldn’t start these medications for lung-related reasons outside current medical guidelines. The next step, she noted, is confirming these results through proper clinical trials before they can meaningfully shape treatment.
For now, it’s a promising link between two seemingly unrelated areas of health —one that researchers are keen to explore further.
(Source: European Respiratory Society)
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