see indications that go beyond weight loss

Besides Wegovy, other weight loss pens have also received approval from Anvisa for diseases other than obesity.

Ozempic is a medicine whose active ingredient is semaglutide, a synthetic form of the hormone GLP-1, the same as that present in Wegovy. It is recommended to treat type 2 diabetes. Just like the Mounjaro injectable pen, whose active ingredient is tirzepatide.

This year, Mounjaro also began to be indicated for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by repeated pauses in breathing due to partial or complete blockage of the upper airway during sleep. However, this recommendation is limited to obese people.

Possible protection against other diseases

In addition to existing approvals, the pens are being studied as a possibility to treat other diseases.

One of them is alcohol use disorder, better known as alcoholism. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, was linked to 50% to 56% lower incidence and recurrence of alcohol use disorder cases in a new study published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

There are few medications designed to treat this disorder. Now, the new results suggest that the class of drugs that semaglutide is a part of, GLP-1 analogs, could provide a new alternative.

Furthermore, researchers from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) are studying the possible benefits of tirzepatide, a molecule present in Mounjaro, in the treatment of neuroinflammation, present in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Liraglutide, a drug in the same class as Ozempic, has already shown good results. In a study by Imperial College London, it showed an almost 50% reduction in the rate of shrinkage of parts of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision-making in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.