A new international study has found that semaglutide, a medicine usually used for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, can help people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) walk farther, feel better, and live a better life. This is big news for people who have both PAD and type 2 diabetes.
PAD affects the blood flow in the legs. It happens when fat and cholesterol build up in the arteries, making it hard for blood to reach the muscles. This can cause pain, weakness, and trouble walking. PAD is very common. More than 200 million people around the world have it, including 12 million in the U.S.
The STRIDE trial is the first study to test a drug called a GLP-1 agonist—semaglutide—for PAD. It was published in the medical journal The Lancet. The trial included 792 people from 112 clinics in 20 countries. Everyone had type 2 diabetes and early-stage PAD. Their average age was 67. About one-quarter were women, and most were white.
In the study, people were randomly given either semaglutide (1 mg weekly) or a placebo (fake medicine) for 52 weeks. The researchers tested how far they could walk on a treadmill at the beginning, halfway through, and at the end of the study.
At the start, most people could only walk 186 meters (about 0.1 miles) before feeling leg pain. By the end, people taking semaglutide could walk an average of 40 meters farther. That may not sound like a big difference, but in PAD, even walking 10–20 meters more is considered important. A 40-meter increase is a meaningful gain.
People who took semaglutide also said their leg pain got better and they could walk more comfortably. Their quality of life improved, and the benefits continued even five weeks after they stopped taking the drug. Tests showed their blood flow improved too.
The study also found that people taking semaglutide were 54% less likely to need emergency treatments, like surgery to open blocked arteries, or to die from related health problems. Only 14 people in the semaglutide group needed these treatments, compared to 30 in the placebo group.
Dr. Marc Bonaca, who led the research, said this is the first new treatment in many years that helps with walking, symptoms, and blood flow all at once. He said it could also reduce the need for invasive treatments in the future.
Another important point is that semaglutide’s benefits don’t seem to come just from weight loss. The people in this study didn’t lose a lot of weight. So the drug may be helping the blood vessels directly, which gives hope that it could also work for people with PAD who don’t have diabetes.
The study had some limits. Everyone in the study had type 2 diabetes, so we don’t yet know if the results would be the same for people with PAD who don’t. Also, only a small number of participants were from North America or were Black, so the results may not apply to all groups equally.
Still, the STRIDE trial is a major step forward. For people with PAD and diabetes, semaglutide may offer a new and effective way to move better, feel better, and avoid serious problems.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, and what you need to know about avocado and type 2 diabetes.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about how to eat to prevent type 2 diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
