GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic have been shown to be extremely effective at helping diabetics manage their blood sugar, and almost anyone else to lose weight and keep it off. These drugs have also been shown to help stop addictions of all types in many people.

A new study performed by TruDiagnostic has one more benefit to add to the list. While the study hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, it shows that weekly shots of semaglutide (the GLP-1 in Ozempic) can actually reduce the biological age of a person by as much as three years.

Biological age is essentially how old the body is based on certain biological markers rather than just the chronological age. It can be measured using various tools including looking at DNA methylation, fat composition, and many others.

For this study, the team of researchers took blood samples from 184 HIV positive patients who had HIV-associated lipohypertrophy. This is is a condition where excess fat and cellular aging are common. They measured the biological age of each of these patients using those blood samples.

Over the course of the next 32 weeks, some patients got a weekly injection of semaglutide, and others got a placebo. At the end of the 32 week study, they took another blood sample from each person and determined their new biological age.

When the results came back, the researchers found that those who were given the shot of Ozempic became 3.1 years biologically younger, on average. In addition, they found that these same patients had reduce aging signals in their hearts, kidneys, brain, and reduced inflammation.

While all of the patients in the study were HIV positive, the researchers say that the same benefits would likely be present for healthy patients as well, though additional studies would be needed to confirm this. They also say that more study will be needed before any GLP-1’s could be recommended as part of an anti-aging protocol.

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