A new study finds that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Vegovy that contain semaglutide may help obese people deal with knee arthritis. The study was funded by Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Vegovy, and is reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study results found that people who received weekly injections of semaglutide, which is the active agent in the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight loss drug Vegovi, lost about 14% of their body weight after 68 weeks, compared with 3%. % decreased. People were given placebo.

A US News report said this weight loss reduced knee pain and improved knee function in those taking semaglutide. “Obesity-related knee osteoarthritis is a progressive condition that can cause pain and stiffness in the knee and disrupt important daily functions such as walking,” said lead researcher Dr. Henning Bledal, professor of rheumatology at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. Can do.” ,

“People with obesity have more than four times the risk of developing this condition,” Bledel said in a Novo Nordisk news release.

Excess weight can put more stress on the knee, causing the natural cartilage that supports the joint to wear down more rapidly. Therefore, losing excess weight is recommended for treating knee arthritis, but this may be difficult to achieve through diet and exercise alone.

For the study, researchers recruited 407 adults with obesity who were also diagnosed with knee arthritis based on X-rays and pain scores. The average BMI of the patients was 40, indicating severe obesity, and the average age was 56 years. Two-thirds of the patients were randomly assigned to receive semaglutide, while the remaining third were given a placebo. Both groups also received counseling on exercise and diet.

The results showed that after 68 weeks, knee pain scores in people taking semaglutide decreased by about 42 points on a 100-point pain scale, compared with a 28-point reduction in people taking placebo.

Speaking to The New York Times, Dr. Bob Carter, deputy director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, said, “The magnitude of the improvement is so broad that we have not seen it with any drug before. His knee pain reduced by about 50%. It is huge.”

The study results also said physical function scores improved nearly twice as much in semaglutide patients, 12 points versus 6.5 points for those taking placebo. Carter said these results suggest that semaglutide may be a reasonable alternative to knee replacement surgery for people with obesity and worsening knee arthritis.

“The good news is that surgery works for most people,” Dr. Carter said. The bad news is that it is extremely expensive. “We desperately need an effective way to treat knee pain.”

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