A new study has found that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy which have semaglutide can help obese people manage knee arthritis. The study was funded by Novo Nordisk, the company which manufactures Ozempic and Wegovy and reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The results of the study found that people who received weekly injections of semaglutide which is the active agent in the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight-loss medication Wegovy had a nearly 14% decrease in their body weight after 68 weeks, compared with 3% of people given a placebo.

A report in the US News said that this weight loss translated into a decrease in knee pain and improved knee function among those taking semaglutide. Dr Henning Bliddal, a professor of rheumatology with Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark and lead researcher said, “Obesity-related knee osteoarthritis is a progressive condition that can lead to pain and stiffness of the knee and impair critical daily functions such as walking or moving around.”

Bliddal in a Novo Nordisk news release said, “The risk of developing the condition is more than four times higher in people with obesity.”

Added weight can place more stress on the knee, thereby, causing the natural cartilage that cushions the joint to wear down more quickly. Hence, reducing excess weight is recommended to treat knee arthritis, but it can be tough to achieve through diet and exercise alone.

For the study, the researchers recruited 407 adults with obesity who also had been diagnosed with knee arthritis based on X-rays and pain scores. The patients had an average BMI of 40, which indicates severe obesity, and an average age of 56. Two-thirds of the patients were randomly assigned to receive semaglutide, while the remaining third got a placebo. Both groups also received counselling on exercise and diet.

The results showed that after 68 weeks, knee pain scores among people taking semaglutide fell by about 42 points on a 100-point pain scale, compared with a 28-point reduction among people on placebo.

Speaking to the New York Times, Dr Bob Carter, deputy director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases said, “The magnitude of the improvement is of a scope we haven’t seen before with a drug. They had an almost 50% reduction in their knee pain. That’s huge.”

The results of the study also say that semaglutide patients also had nearly twice the improvement in physical function scores, 12 points versus 6.5 points for those taking placebo. Carter added that these results show that semaglutide could be a reasonable alternative to knee replacement surgery for people with obesity and worsening knee arthritis.

Dr Carter said, “The good news is that surgery works for most people. The bad news is that it is hugely expensive. We desperately need an effective way to treat knee pain.”

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