Weight loss drugs could soon be used to treat depression following a landmark study involving almost 30,000 patients.
Researchers have found that the slimming jabs—which include blockbusters Wegovy or Ozempic—may have 'an antidepressant effect'.
The startling findings raise the possibility that the medicines, originally developed to treat diabetes, could one day be offered as a mental health therapy, say experts.
Clinical researcher Riccardo De Giorgi, from the University of Oxford, a specialist on the effects of the drugs has said: 'There is increasing evidence that these jabs are associated with a lower risk of depression.
'There is certainly the potential that they could be used to treat the condition.'
Ozempic and Wegovy both contain semaglutide, part of a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1RAs.
Studies have shown these medicines help control blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes—and lead to dramatic weight loss.
They work by mimicking a hormone responsible for regulating feelings of fullness and help to suppress the apatite.
However scores of studies have shown the benefits are far-reaching, helping reduce the risk of killer conditions including heart disease and even dementia.
But concerns have been raised in recent months over some people abusing the jabs for 'cosmetic reasons'—in order to stay extremely thin.
Celebrities including actresses Demi Moore caused concern earlier this week arriving at the SAG Awards in Hollywood showcasing dramatically slimmed down figures— and both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and NHS England medical director Sir Stephen Powis have warned against using the jabs to 'get beach body ready'.
In the new study, experts at the University of Florida compared the levels of depression in diabetic patients over the age of 66, who were either being treated with GLP-1RAs, or two other common treatments for diabetes.
The scientists found that patients on the GLP-1RAs reported fewer symptoms of depression compared with those on the common diabetes drug dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4is), also known collectively as gliptins.
The researchers concluded that this showed the drugs were having a beneficial effect on depression.
The findings had 'important implications on the management of diabetes and depression in older adults', they added.
Currently, GLP-1RAs are only prescribed on the NHS for obese or diabetic patients.
Professor David Strain, an expert in cardiometabolic health, at the University of Exeter has said he is 'not surprised at all' by the latest discovery.
A 2023 study by Diabetes UK of 160,000 people showed that having symptoms of depression can actually cause type 2 diabetes.
They also found that people with diabetes are twice as likely to have the condition.
He added: 'Patients who are older, overweight and have diabetes will almost certainly have signs of depression and they would likely benefit from these drugs.
'Currently guidelines stop us from giving GLP1's to older patients but this shows that we should look again at this.'
Researchers believe that the reason that the drug works for reducing the risk of depression is its known benefits on reducing inflammation.
'We know that GLP1 drugs work by reducing inflammation, we also know that conditions such as depression have been linked to inflammation in the brain, and that is why we believe that we are seeing this effect,' says Riccardo De Giorgi, who works at the University of Oxford's Department of Psychiatry.
Earlier this month research they published showed that the reduction in brain inflammation has also been linked in reducing the risks of degenerative brain disorders Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's.
Experts are also now confident that the fat jabs do not increase the risk of suicide, as studies had previously suggested.
'The best research now suggests that the earlier evidence that these drugs were linked to an increased risk of depression and suicide were not accurate findings,' says Mr De Giorgi.
