3 min readJun 6, 2024 01:45 PM IST
First published on: Jun 6, 2024 at 01:25 PM IST
The popular diabetes and weight-loss drug semaglutide — sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy — has now been proven to reduce the risk of kidney disease and its complications among people with diabetes. A recent study has found that it could reduce the risk of major kidney events, onset of dialysis, or transplantation by 24 per cent and all-cause mortality by 20 per cent.
The study tracked 3,500 people with diabetes who had chronic kidney disease (CKD). “This is the kind of evidence that cannot be ignored. Semaglutide injectables are likely to be included as another treatment option for those with CKD in international advisories. This is an important trial — it will give more hope to patients with the disease and it will provide us with another medicine in our arsenal,” says Dr Anoop Misra, chairman of Fortis C-Doc Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.
What is CKD?
CKD is a chronic condition that leads to a gradual loss of kidney function — its ability to filter out waste. The disease usually leads to a buildup of fluids and waste in the body. Eventually, it leads to kidney failure, requiring either regular dialysis or a kidney transplantation.
How does a weight-loss drug help with kidney disease?
The drug works by reducing the known risk factors for complicating CKD like uncontrolled diabetes and obesity. There are also multiple tissue-based mechanisms that the drug works on, including decreasing inflammation, oxidative stress and fibrosis (hardening of the tissue). There could also be some other mechanisms that directly impact the kidney which we don’t know about.
The prevalence of CKD may be very high in nearly 40 to 50 per cent of elderly people with diabetes. It may range between 10 to 20 per cent among younger people with uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and obesity. The prevalence is likely to be negligible among the young with well-managed diabetes.
What are the treatments available for CKD?
There is no cure for the condition. All treatments focus on slowing the damage and delaying the last stages. The problem is that there are very few things we can do to treat it. Of course, lifestyle changes to control blood pressure, diabetes and other risk factors will help. When it comes to medicines, a few years ago, there was only one hypertension drug that could be used for kidney disease called Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). Over the last two to three years, another class of diabetes drugs — SGLT2 — and Finerenone have been shown to slow down progression of CKD as well as cardiovascular diseases. Now, we have a fourth drug.
What are the precautions that one needs to take?
While semaglutide, and other diabetes and weight-loss medicines in the category are known to cause gastrointestinal symptoms, these symptoms may be more harmful in patients with kidney disease. Common side effects like vomitting, nausea and dehydration can exacerbate kidney disease. Therefore, it is more important for kidney disease patients to consult a doctor if these symptoms persist.
It is more important for kidney disease patients to consult a doctor if these symptoms persist. (Representational photo) 
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