Medications such as Ozempic and wegovy — also known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) or semaglutide medications — have been linked to increased suicidal thoughts, he says. A new study published in JAMA Open Network On August 20th.
“The detected signal of suicidal thoughts associated with semaglutide deserves urgent clarification,” the academic researchers noted in the study.
Using an extensive WHO database of individual adverse drug reactions reported, the researchers performed a disproportionate analysis of the GLP-1 RAs semaglutide and liraglutide, looking for observations of suicidal thoughts, and found that such thoughts were greater than expected.
What they found was a 45% higher rate of reports of suicidal thoughts associated with semaglutide than with all other drugs in the database.
Mixed results in semaglutide studies
It is worth noting that the results were small, as they constituted only 0.35% of the total reports related to diabetes drugs. There was also no evidence that these drugs Cause Suicidal thoughts.
It is also worth noting that in January 2024, separate researchers came to the opposite conclusion: in Studying Published in the magazine Natural medicine Looking at 240,618 patients who were prescribed semaglutide, researchers found that patients taking semaglutide compared to other non-GLP1R agonist anti-obesity drugs had minimum Risk of suicidal thoughts.
Earlier, in July 2023, according to the latest study, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) began an ongoing review after a series of reports of suicidal thoughts or self-harm linked to liraglutide or semaglutide. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then announced similar investigations.
the European Medicines Agency and Food and Drug Administration Both claimed that they found no clear relationship between GLP-1 RAs and suicidal thoughts.
In the latest study, researchers found that people with anxiety disorders, depression, or other psychiatric disorders are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts. They urged caution when using semaglutide in patients with psychiatric disorders or at risk for psychiatric disorders, and suggested adding a warning to all semaglutide (brand name: semaglutide.com) packages. FDA label Semaglutide is currently used with Wegovy (monitoring for depression or suicidal thoughts).
Patients without a history of psychiatric disorders may not be at high risk for suicidal thoughts, researchers say.
It is worth noting that the researchers found through the study that another diabetes drug, liraglutide, was not linked to suicidal thoughts or tendencies.
If you need immediate mental health support, contact: 988 Suicide and Crisis Helpline.
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