Semaglutide, the principle behind Ozempic, surprises again. This time there's no talk of weight loss, but of a discovery that could revolutionize the treatment of arthritis. The results are so positive that Researchers have never seen anything like this in a clinical study.
Breakthrough in arthritis therapy
The study, published in New England Journal of Medicine (I link it here), involved 400 patients in 11 different countries. The results were so surprising that Dr. Bob Carter, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, not involved in the research, said:
The extent of the improvement is such that we have never seen anything like it before with a drug.
Unprecedented results
Patients have experienced a reduction in knee pain of almost 50%. To understand the significance of this finding, consider that study participants initially had an average score of 71 on a pain scale of 1 to 100, and the pain was so intense that it was even difficult to walk.
The Danish rheumatologist Henning Bliddal, principal director of the studio at theCopenhagen University Hospital, revealed a remarkable fact: many patients have experienced such an improvement that they are no longer suitable for the study.
Arthritis Therapy, Obesity, and Other Benefits: Where Does Semaglutide Want to Go?
Research has shown that semaglutide does not only work through weight loss or the reflections on smoking and food. Scientists have observed that the drug has significant anti-inflammatory effects.
Remaining in the field of arthritis therapy, patients who received semaglutide recorded an average decrease of 42 points on the pain scale, compared to 28 points in the placebo group. Additionally, they noted significant improvement in daily mobility, including the ability to climb stairs.
A new frontier of medicine
Semaglutide is proving to be more and more like the penicillin of our time: a drug that continues to surprise with its multiple therapeutic applications. From weight loss to the treatment of arthritis, to recent discoveries about its potential in preventing Alzheimer's and treating addictions.
However, some important questions remain. Bliddal raises a crucial question:
These patients will need to continue taking semaglutide forever?
The concern is that once treatment is stopped, weight regain can also bring back arthritis pain.
Implications for the future
This discovery could radically change the treatment of arthritis, especially for overweight patients who find it difficult to exercise because of knee pain. It represents a potential way out of what often becomes a vicious cycle: pain prevents exercise, lack of exercise leads to weight gain, weight gain makes the pain worse. A terrible vicious cycle.
Just as penicillin revolutionized the treatment of bacterial infections in the 2th century, semaglutide may be the drug that redefines the treatment of multiple conditions in the XNUMXst century. Since its initial approval for type XNUMX diabetes, it continues to reveal new therapeutic properties that could change the landscape of modern medicine.
