The Second Wave: What Ozempic Might Actually Be Good For

Ozempic and its chemical cousins made their name as weight-loss drugs. Increasingly, that may be the least interesting thing about them.

A massive VA-linked study analyzing over 100 million U.S. patient records found GLP-1 drugs associated with reduced risk across 42 separate health conditions — including substance abuse disorders, suicidal ideation, schizophrenia, neurocognitive disorders like Alzheimer's, liver cancer, and life-threatening blood clots.

The heart evidence is now some of the strongest in the entire GLP-1 story. A major international review found these drugs significantly reduce heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and premature death long-term. That builds on the landmark SELECT trial of more than 17,000 adults, where semaglutide cut major cardiovascular events by roughly 20 percent — strong enough that the FDA approved the drug specifically for cardiovascular disease in 2024.

The dementia angle is newer but compelling. A 2025 JAMA Network Open study of over 60,000 adults found semaglutide and tirzepatide users had significantly lower dementia, stroke, and mortality risk over seven years, with the strongest effects in adults over 60. A separate Oxford analysis of 60,000-plus records found no increased risk across 22 brain or psychiatric disorders. Not every result has cooperated, though — Novo Nordisk reported disappointing trial results specifically in patients who already had cognitive impairment, suggesting any benefit works better as prevention than treatment.

None of this makes these drugs risk-free — researchers have also flagged kidney stones, low blood pressure, and pancreatitis, and a Cleveland Clinic study found weight-loss surgery still outperforms GLP-1s for long-term outcomes.

Still, the sheer range of conditions under study — heart, kidney, liver, sleep apnea, addiction, dementia — has researchers describing GLP-1s less as an obesity drug and more as a tool that lowers the chronic inflammation driving much of modern disease, which is exactly why a diabetes medication is now being tested against nearly every major disease of aging.