Popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound may offer more than just help shedding extra pounds—they might also help protect people from serious health risks linked to sleep apnea.
That’s the takeaway from a new study shared at a major medical meeting in Chicago.
Researchers looked at the health records of nearly 1.8 million people with type 2 diabetes. About 28% of them were taking a type of medication called GLP-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 drugs.
These drugs were originally created to treat diabetes, as they help regulate blood sugar, reduce appetite, and slow down digestion.
Over time, doctors also noticed they helped many patients lose weight, which led to their growing popularity as weight-loss drugs.
In the study, patients taking GLP-1 drugs had a lower chance of dying in the following year than those not on the medication. But the most striking results came from people who also had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)—a condition in which the upper airway becomes blocked during sleep, causing frequent pauses in breathing.
These interruptions lead to poor-quality sleep and leave people feeling tired, even after a full night in bed.
Sleep apnea is more common in people who are overweight or obese. Extra fat around the throat area can press on the airways, making them collapse more easily. It also affects lung function, making it harder to breathe while sleeping.
Among the patients studied, those with sleep apnea who were taking GLP-1 drugs had a 20% lower risk of dying within a year compared to sleep apnea patients not taking the drugs.
The numbers showed that people without sleep apnea had a death risk of 0.9% if they were on GLP-1 drugs, compared to 1.8% for those who weren’t. But for sleep apnea patients, the risk dropped from 2.5% without the drug to 1% with the drug—a bigger reduction overall.
Dr. Cosmo Fowler, the lead researcher and a sleep doctor in Atlanta, said that having sleep apnea may actually boost the benefit of taking GLP-1 drugs. This means that the presence of sleep apnea could make the drug even more effective in lowering health risks.
These findings support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision to approve Zepbound (tirzepatide) as a treatment for sleep apnea in people with obesity.
Doctors already know that losing weight helps ease sleep apnea symptoms by reducing the pressure on the airways. Since GLP-1 drugs lead to weight loss and can improve blood sugar control, researchers think this may be part of why they’re so helpful to people with sleep apnea.
However, the study didn’t look at the exact reasons why the drugs help, so more research is needed to understand how they work in this context and whether the benefits last long-term.
This new information could help guide doctors when deciding whether to prescribe GLP-1 drugs. Knowing that people with sleep apnea might see even greater benefits could make these medications a better fit for certain patients.
If you care about sleep, please read studies that Sleeping pill lowers key Alzheimer’s disease markers and Scientists discover the link between sleep apnea and dementia risk.
For more health information, please read studies that Common sleep supplement could improve memory and Scientists find link between short sleep and higher risk of long COVID.
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