22 Dec 2024

Can Ozempic really treat everything?

From Sunday Morning, 8:25 am on 22 December 2024

There are claims Ozempic and other similar drugs can have positive effects from Alzheimer's disease to heart disease to depression.  

If one drug type can really impact so many conditions, how does it actually work? 

Helen Thomson writes for New Scientist, and specialises in life sciences, health and biotech. 

(FILES) This photograph taken on February 23, 2023, in Paris, shows the anti-diabetic medication "Ozempic" (semaglutide) made by Danish pharmaceutical company "Novo Nordisk". Surging demand for diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy has propelled Danish pharma group Novo Nordisk to the top spot as Europe's most valuable company, giving Denmark's economy a major makeover. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Photo: AFP