--- title: "Psych News Alert: Semaglutide Linked to Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in Type 2 Diabetes" description: Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1) approved for treating diabetes and promoting weight loss, may help lower the risk of Alzheime... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/semaglutides_iStock-2025837738-Jun-24-2025-05-08-21-2835-PM.jpg --- 10/25/24 12:00 AM # Semaglutide Linked to Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in Type 2 Diabetes ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/semaglutide-linked-to-lower-risk-of.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/semaglutide-linked-to-lower-risk-of.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/semaglutide-linked-to-lower-risk-of.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/semaglutide-linked-to-lower-risk-of.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/semaglutide-linked-to-lower-risk-of.html) ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/semaglutides_iStock-2025837738-Jun-24-2025-05-08-20-3352-PM.jpg?width=200&height=160&name=semaglutides_iStock-2025837738-Jun-24-2025-05-08-20-3352-PM.jpg) Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1) approved for treating diabetes and promoting weight loss, may help lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in adults with type 2 diabetes compared with other diabetes drugs, a [study](https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.14313) in *Alzheimer’s and Dementia* has found. Rong Xu, Ph.D., of Case Western University, and colleagues analyzed electronic health record data to identify 17,104 new users of semaglutide and 1,077,657 new users of seven other antidiabetic medications, including other GLP-1s, insulin, metformin, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, sulfonylurea, and thiazolidinedione. The patients received their first prescriptions for these medications between December 2017 and May 2021. Patients had an average age of 58 years, and the researchers followed them for three years. The researchers found that compared with the other medications, semaglutide was associated with a 40% to 70% lower risk of first-time Alzheimer’s diagnosis, including: - 69% lower risk than sulfonylureas - 67% lower risk than insulin - 62% lower risk than metformin - 60% lower risk than dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors - 57% lower risk than thiazolidinedione - 41% lower risk than other GLP-1s - 40% lower risk than sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors The results were similar for older patients, patients with and without obesity, and men compared with women. “While the underlying mechanisms of the observed association of semaglutide and reduced risk of [Alzheimer’s] are unknown, they could also reflect semaglutide’s improvement of [Alzheimer’s] risk factors such as [type 2 diabetes], obesity, cardiovascular diseases, smoking, alcohol drinking, and depression, among others,” the researchers wrote. “Our findings support further clinical evaluation of semaglutide’s role in mitigating Alzheimer’s initiation and development in patients with [type 2 diabetes]. Future research should explore its effects in mild cognitive impairment, other dementias, and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as investigate other [GLP-1s] like tirzepatide and combination therapies with other antidiabetic medications.” For related information, see the *Psychiatric News* article “[Blockbuster Weight-Loss Drugs Not Tied to Suicidality, Studies Show](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2024.06.6.38).” (Image: Getty Images/iStock/aprott) --- **Don't miss out!** To learn about newly posted articles in *Psychiatric News,* please sign up [here](https://appi.org/pnpubalert). **[Follow *Psychiatric News* on X!](https://twitter.com/PsychiatricNews)** **[Follow *Psychiatric News* on LinkedIn!](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/psychiatric-news)** [Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [Metformin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/metformin), [insulin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/insulin), [semaglutide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/semaglutide), [type 2 diabetes](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/type-2-diabetes), [dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dipeptidyl-peptidase-4-inhibitors), [GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1)](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/glp-1-receptor-agonist-glp-1), [sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sodium-glucose-cotransporter-2-inhibitors), [antidiabetic medication](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/antidiabetic-medication) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/older_adults_iStock-875887658-4.jpg?height=200&name=older_adults_iStock-875887658-4.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/some-levels-of-alzheimers-biomarkers.html) [Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [African Americans](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/african-americans), [race](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/race), [amyloid beta](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/amyloid-beta), [biomarkers](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/biomarkers), [tau](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/tau), [JAMA Neurology](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jama-neurology), [minorities](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/minorities) ## [Some Levels of Alzheimer’s Biomarkers May Differ Between African Americans, Whites](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/some-levels-of-alzheimers-biomarkers.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 1/7/19 12:00 AM African-American individuals on average have lower levels of the tau protein compared with white... 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