Ozempic could help with diabetes complications: Montreal study

Semaglutide may relieve peripheral arterial disease experienced by many patients with type 2 diabetes, a new Montreal study suggests.

Peripheral arterial disease is a difficult-to-treat problem characterized by inadequate blood circulation in the lower limbs, which can lead to serious complications, including below-the-knee amputation.

“It’s in the same broad group of diseases as myocardial infarction or stroke, but it affects the large vessels in the legs,” explained Dr. Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret, a diabetes specialist at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute.

In this study, 800 patients were randomly assigned to receive semaglutide – a molecule better known by its trade name Ozempic – and a placebo group. 

After one year, the semaglutide group had improved the distance they could walk without stopping by 13 per cent, compared to the placebo group. This distance was measured on a treadmill with a 12 per cent incline, which corresponds to a steep hill.

“I would have liked to see another test to see what it was like on the flat, because not everyone has to climb the Berri hill every day,” added Dr. Rabasa-Lhoret.

The semaglutide group showed benefits very quickly after the start of the intervention and the difference between the two groups was maintained over time, the researchers write, particularly with regard to the distance walked without pain and an improvement in quality of life.

The long-term benefits may be even greater, they say, since semaglutide’s benefits for maximum walking distance were apparent at 26 weeks and continued to increase through 52 weeks, with no apparent plateau.

Peripheral artery disease can be quite complicated to treat, Dr. Rabasa-Lhoret noted: walking more can help, but it can also worsen wounds; quitting smoking is not easy; the surgical procedures available are not trivial; and the available medications are not very effective.

“These are people who are very sick and who are very limited in their ability to move, with a quality of life that is not extraordinary,” he added.

The availability of a new therapeutic avenue is therefore very interesting, according to him, especially since generic versions of Ozempic will soon be arriving on the market.

Peripheral artery disease is estimated to affect about 230 million people worldwide, “and type 2 diabetes is really one of the main risk factors,” said Dr. Rabasa-Lhoret.

The findings of this study were published in the medical journal The Lancet.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews