A drug that’s in the same class as the diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic appears to protect the brains of people with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s called Liraglutide and researchers found that it appears to reduce shrinking in parts of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision-making by nearly 50%.
But there’s more.
"What they saw for the people who were on this drug, there was an 18% reduction in cognitive decline. Big deal! Big deal! So what does this mean?" said Kinsey McManus with the Alzheimer’s Association in Phoenix.
It means more research, she says. But more importantly, "this could be the next new class of drugs that follows behind the Aducanumab, Lecanemab, Donanemab, these new MAB drugs."
And unlike those drugs, which are given through IV infusions, Liraglutide is an injectable. It could likely could be taken at home and would likely be less costly.
The new research was reported at the Alzheimer’s Association’s international conference earlier this week.
