Semaglutide linked to reduced arthritis knee pain in people with obesity, study finds
People who lost a significant amount of weight with semaglutide saw major improvements in osteoarthritis knee pain, research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine finds.
People who lost a significant amount of weight with semaglutide saw major improvements in osteoarthritis knee pain, research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine finds.
In the phase 3 clinical trial, people with osteoarthritis who dieted, exercised and took semaglutide — the blockbuster drug sold by Novo Nordisk as Ozempic and Wegovy — lost more weight and reported a greater reduction in knee pain than those who lost weight with just diet and exercise.
Osteoarthritis happens when cartilage around joints breaks down. The leading cause, experts say, is obesity.
“Within a joint, you have cartilage that coats and caps the bones so they glide together smoothly,” said Dr. Daniel Wiznia, co-director of the Yale Medicine Avascular Necrosis & Osteonecrosis Program. “Cartilage is not designed for high stress loads that it will see with obesity.”
The new study, which was funded by Novo Nordisk, included about 400 patients with knee osteoarthritis, with an average age of 56, in 11 countries. About 80% of the people in the study were women, who experience osteoarthritis at higher rates than men. The participants reported their pain to be about 71 out of 100, on average, which is “pretty severe pain,” said lead study author Dr. Henning Bliddal, a professor of rheumatology at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
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