The Ozempic debate: Large study reveals the good and the bad – National [Video]

Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound and other drugs often used for weight loss may help lower the risk of a wide range of health conditions, from diabetes to Alzheimer’s, according to a new study, but they also may come with risks like pancreatitis and stomach paralysis.

The large observational study, published Monday in Nature Medicine, is the first of its kind to map the risks and benefits of drugs like Ozempic across 175 potential health outcomes, according to the authors.

These health outcomes ranged from psychotic disorders, seizures and dementia to gastrointestinal disorders, hypotension and arthritis.

“Given the drugs’ newness and skyrocketing popularity, it is important to systematically examine their effects on all body systems — leaving no stone unturned — to understand what they do and what they don’t do,” said the study’s senior author, Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist and nephrologist at WashU Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.

“Our approach has allowed us to …