Might Ozempic Deal with Migraines, Too? Small Research Finds Early Promise for GLP-1s

Bought a blinding headache? Some GLP-1 remedy may surprisingly assist. A current scientific trial has discovered early proof that these fashionable medicine, sometimes used to deal with weight problems and sort 2 diabetes, can also scale back migraine episodes.

Researchers in Italy carried out the small pilot trial, which concerned dozens of sufferers residing with weight problems and power migraine complications. Folks skilled a big drop within the variety of migraine days every month upon taking liraglutide, the researchers discovered—even once they didn’t shed weight on the drug. The outcomes, whereas preliminary, point out that GLP-1s may very well be a worthwhile add-on remedy for some individuals with migraines who haven’t responded to different drugs, the research authors say.

“Our findings present that liraglutide could also be efficient within the remedy of unresponsive high-frequency or power migraine in sufferers with weight problems,” the researchers, primarily based on the College of Naples Federico II, wrote of their paper, published this month within the journal Headache.

GLP-1s mimic a hormone necessary to regulating starvation and metabolism. This drug class has been round for 20 years, and the latest approved iterations, semaglutide and tirzepatide, are considerably more practical at serving to individuals shed weight and management their blood sugar than food plan and train alone. Scientists have realized over time that the potential well being advantages of GLP-1s could prolong past weight reduction alone, nevertheless. Some early research have instructed GLP-1s can tamp down the drug-related cravings of individuals with substance use issues, as an example.

Persistent migraines are a posh situation, with many attainable elements behind them. However one such issue is increased intracranial pressure within the head, in line with the research researchers. Since previous analysis has shown that GLP-1s can scale back this stress, they hypothesized this drug class may very well be a possible migraine remedy.

They examined liraglutide, an older GLP-1 drug, on 31 sufferers with weight problems and unresponsive migraines for 12 weeks. By the research’s finish, individuals’s common month-to-month days of migraine had dropped from round 20 days to simply underneath 11—an almost 50% drop. One participant even grew to become utterly freed from migraines. Some individuals additionally skilled modest weight reduction, however apparently sufficient, their diploma of weight reduction wasn’t correlated to the development in migraines they skilled. In different phrases, liraglutide’s impact on migraines seemed to be impartial of its weight reduction impact.

Because the researchers absolutely acknowledge, this was only a proof-of-concept research, not meant to definitively show something. And there are necessary lingering questions left to resolve. Will newer GLP-1 medicine like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) be more practical at relieving pressure-related migraines as effectively, for instance? However given how troublesome migraines will be to treatment, even with current drug approvals, discovering a brand new and already examined avenue for remedy may very well be invaluable.

Extra research ought to validate whether or not intracranial pressure-reducing medicine, GLP-1s included, generally is a new goal for migraine aid, the researchers say. Nevertheless it’s a promising begin.