(CNN) — People taking semaglutide, the popular medication for diabetes and weight loss, are more likely to report having thoughts of suicide compared with those taking other drugs, according to a new study of an international drug safety database.
Semaglutide is sold under the brand name Ozempic when it’s prescribed for diabetes and Wegovy when it’s prescribed for weight loss.
RELATED | Popular weight loss and diabetes drugs linked to increased risk of rare form of blindness But suicide has been a long-standing concern with medications that alter the desire for food.
In 2008, the weight loss drug rimonabant, which acted on the same brain system that gives people the munchies when they’re on marijuana, was withdrawn from use because it increased the risk of suicide.
But there’s been conflicting evidence about the risk of suicidal thoughts and feelings with new weight loss drugs, including semaglutide.
Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency said available evidence did not show a link between suicide and semaglutide and other drugs used for weight loss.
The study authors found what they describe as a disproportional risk of suicidal thoughts in people taking semaglutide but not in people who were taking liraglutide.
But because so many people are taking semaglutide, they think the findings warrant further study and “urgent clarification” about the risk.
(CNN)— A new analysis of an international drug safety database found that individuals taking semaglutide, a well-known medication for diabetes and weight loss, are more likely than those taking other drugs to report having suicidal thoughts. The discovery, however, is just the most recent in a long line of scientific research linking popular medications to an increased risk of depression and suicide; detractors point out that there is little proof the drugs cause mood disorders.
For the purpose of treating diabetes, semaglutide is marketed under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, respectively. Furthermore, a number of businesses produce the medication in compounded form. Studies have revealed more encouraging effects of the medication, such as a decrease in cancer and kidney disease, which has led to a surge in its use in recent years.
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But drugs that change appetite have long been associated with an increased risk of suicide. A significant mood shift and an increased risk of self-harm can occur for certain individuals when they no longer derive pleasure and reward from eating, among other things. 2008 saw the use of the weight-loss medication rimonabant, which worked on the same brain system as marijuana to give users the munchies, withdrawn due to an increased risk of suicide. In the US, the drug’s use was never authorized. ).
A warning to be on the lookout for depression and suicidal thoughts is already included in the patient information for semaglutide. However, there is conflicting information regarding the possibility of suicidal thoughts and feelings when using new weight-loss medications, such as semaglutide.
The European Medicines Agency stated earlier this year that there was no evidence linking semaglutide or other weight-loss medications to suicide. The risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts has been examined by the US Food and Drug Administration for drugs in the same class as semaglutide; thus far, no increased risk has been discovered. Nonetheless, the agency notes that because there have only been a few events in their surveillance systems overall, it cannot completely rule out a slight increase in risk. The investigation is still ongoing.
Semaglutide users had a lower risk of suicidal thoughts than those taking other types of medications for diabetes and weight loss, according to a large study that was published in January in the journal Nature Medicine.
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This latest research, which was released on Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, examined reports of suicidal thoughts in patients taking semaglutide for weight loss or diabetes. The reports were gathered from a World Health Organization database that aggregates adverse drug events in 140 countries.
Of the more than 30,500 patients who took semaglutide, the study’s authors found 107 reports of patients who claimed to have considered suicide. Of the more than 52,000 patients taking liraglutide—a different injected diabetes medication that belongs to the same class as semaglutide—they found 162 reports of patients who had felt similarly about suicide. Since ligarglutide is an older medication, more people have taken it before.
The authors of the study observed what they refer to as a disproportional risk of suicidal thoughts in those taking semaglutide as opposed to liraglutide. When the risk associated with all other drugs in the database was compared to reports of suicidal thoughts in semaglutide users, the researchers discovered that the risk was approximately 45 percent higher in semaglutide users.
Individuals who were also taking drugs for anxiety and depression had a risk that was approximately four times higher, indicating that this group may be even more vulnerable to mood-related side effects from these medications. The association vanished when the study’s authors removed cases in which patients were taking both antidepressants and semaglutide, indicating that those individuals were the ones who were increasing the risk.
The researchers admit the limitations of their study. However, given the large number of semaglutide users, they believe that additional research and “urgent clarification” regarding the risk are necessary in light of the findings.
Additional specialists stated that the study’s evidence is weak.
READ MORE | A study indicates that Mounjaro causes noticeably more weight loss than Ozempic.
Drug safety expert Dr. Mahyar Etminan of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, who was not involved in the study, stated, “Basically, it is hard to tease out from this study whether it is the drug doing this or the mood disorder.”.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Ian Douglas, a pharmacoepidemiology professor, stated that “this paper presents, at best, weak evidence of an association between semaglutide and suicidality.”. Douglas said, speaking with reporters, that while these kinds of studies are useful for developing theories, they are not sufficient to establish causation.
Two French drug safety researchers who were not involved in the study, Drs. Francesco Salvo and Jean-Luc Faillie, concur in a commentary. They claim that depending on the database and study methodology, drug safety studies frequently have different conclusions. It’s wise to exercise caution until we have more solid evidence, they advise.
Salvo and Faillie wrote, “Depression or suicidality are rare but extremely severe events and need to be prevented and managed as much as possible.”.
They believe that patients with a history of depression or suicide thoughts should be prescribed GLP-1 and other appetite suppressants with caution until more accurate data is available. Additionally, they stated that physicians ought to think about “immediate discontinuation” if patients go through a fresh depressive episode while taking the medication. “.
