Diabetes Drugs and Alzheimer’s disease

Can Diabetes Drugs Help Fight Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s disease slowly steals memory and thinking skills, affecting millions of older adults. But what if a medication originally made for diabetes could help fight it?

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy—part of a class called GLP-1—were first designed to regulate blood sugar. Now, scientists are exploring whether they might also protect the brain and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.

In the brain, Alzheimer’s causes:

• Amyloid plaques – sticky clumps between brain cells
• Tau tangles – twisted proteins inside brain cells
  These changes lead to brain inflammation, cell death, and memory loss.

GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, a natural hormone your body makes after eating. It helps control blood sugar by:

• Telling your pancreas to release insulin
• Slowing down how fast your stomach empties
• Making you feel full longer

GLP-1 agonists are medicines that mimic this hormone. They’re used to treat diabetes and help with weight loss. But researchers have discovered that GLP-1 receptors also exist in the brain, and activating them might help protect brain cells. Researchers noticed that people with diabetes who took GLP-1 drugs had a lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s than those who took other medications. That got scientists curious.

In lab studies with mice, GLP-1 drugs helped improve memory, reduce harmful inflamation and lowered levels of amyloid and tau proteins.

Scientists think GLP-1 drugs might protect the brain in several ways:

• Reduce inflammation in the brain
• Improve how the brain uses energy (especially sugar)
• Clear out harmful proteins like amyloid and tau
• Protect brain cells and help them grow
• Fight oxidative stress, which damages cells over time

Clinical Trials Underway

GLP-1 drugs aren’t approved for Alzheimer’s yet—but researchers are actively testing their potential. Two major studies, EVOKE and EVOKE+, are looking at whether these medications can help people in the early stages of the disease. Results should start coming in over the next few years.

To make sure the evidence is solid, both trials follow strict testing methods:

• Placebo-controlled: Participants are randomly assigned to receive either the actual GLP-1 drug (like semaglutide) or a lookalike placebo with no active ingredient.

• Double-blind: Nobody—neither the participants nor the researchers—knows who got the real drug until after the study ends. This helps keep the results objective and trustworthy.

“These trials use gold-standard methods to find out if diabetes drugs can protect the brain.”

Comparing Treatments: Immunotherapy vs GLP-1

The FDA has approved two immunotherapy drugs—Leqembi and Kisunla—that target amyloid plaques.

These are:

• Administered through IV infusions

• Monitored with frequent brain scans

In contrast, GLP-1 drugs:

• Were designed for diabetes

• May offer broad brain benefits

• Are still experimental for Alzheimer’s

⏳ What’s Next?

While GLP-1 drugs show promise, we’ll need to wait for clinical trial results before they can be considered for Alzheimer’s treatment. Their potential to protect brain health could reshape how we think about managing both diabetes and neurodegeneration.

A diabetes drug for Alzheimer’s? It’s still early—but the possibilities are exciting.

For more detail on clinical trials or to learn more about Alzheimer's disease, visit ATRI’s website resource library.