WEDNESDAY, Feb. 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Hopes that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy could help slow Parkinson's disease have taken an hit. A new study found that a drug in the same class called exenatide, marketed as Byetta, had no effect on slowing the disease or easing its symtoms.

The study may suggest that other researchers should be less optimistic about the prospects for treating a range of other conditions with newer weight-loss drugs.

Semaglutide, the drug used in Ozempic, has been linked to lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease in the past. So, it was natural for the scientists to be hopeful when they tested the possibility of an Ozempic-like drug to improve Parkinson's disease symptoms,

The GLP-1 drug, exenatide, has no positive impact on the movement, symptoms or brain imaging of people with Parkinson's, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

Ozempic and Wegovy do the same thing as GLP-1 would normally do for you — but to enable them to treat diabetes and obesity, not just the glucose impact of individual meals, they’ve been designed, largely thanks to Knudsen’s work, with slight changes to allow them to hang out in the blood longer than GLP-1 normally does.

The GLP-1 drug, exenatide, has no positive impact on the movement, symptoms or brain imaging of people with Parkinson's, finds a new study led by UCL