Ozempic Shows Anti-Aging Effects in Trial, Reversing Biological Age by 3.1 Years

Summary

The diabetes drug Ozempic has demonstrated remarkable anti-aging effects in the first clinical trial to directly measure its impact on biological aging, with participants becoming an average of 3.1 years biologically younger after 32 weeks of treatment. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide may offer benefits far beyond their established roles in diabetes management and weight loss. First Direct Clinical Evidence of Anti-Aging Effects Varun Dwaraka from diagnostics company TruDiagnostic in Lexington, Kentucky, led a randomized controlled trial involving 108 people with HIV-associated lipohypertrophy, a condition characterized by excess fat accumulation and accelerated cellular aging. Half the participants received weekly Ozempic injections for 32 weeks, while the other half received a placebo. The researchers used epigenetic clocks to assess biological aging - sophisticated tools that identify patterns of DNA methylation, chemical tags that affect gene activity and shift predictably with age. These patterns can be accelerated or slowed by lifestyle factors, meaning biological age can differ significantly from chronological age. "Those on semaglutide became, on average, 3.1 years biologically younger by the end of the study," Dwaraka reported. The placebo group showed no significant change in biological age over the same period. Organ-Specific Anti-Aging Benefits The anti-aging effects weren't uniform across all body systems. The research team found that semaglutide slowed biological aging in several organs and systems, with the most dramatic improvements occurring in the inflammatory system and brain, where the drug appeared to delay biological aging by almost 5 years. Significant benefits were also observed in the heart and kidneys. "Semaglutide may not only slow the rate of ageing, but in some individuals partially reverse it," Dwaraka noted, highlighting the potential for the drug to actually turn back the biological cl...