Chosen for the Pancreas, GLP-1 Drugs May Also Steady the Mind

Key Takeaway

In a study of 70,257 US adults with schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes, starting a GLP-1 drug was linked to a 24% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization and a 29% lower risk of psychiatric emergency visits compared with starting none of the medications studied. The advantage also held against 2 other modern diabetes drug classes. Because the study was observational, it suggests a psychiatric benefit but cannot confirm one.

Two Illnesses, One Patient, One Weekly Shot

Picture a 53-year-old man who has lived with schizophrenia since his early twenties. The antipsychotic that finally quieted his voices also added 40 pounds. Then came type 2 diabetes. Twice a year, on average, a relapse lands him in an emergency department. His psychiatrist manages his mind and his internist manages his blood sugar, and the two rarely compare notes.

Patients like him are common. People with schizophrenia lose an estimated 16 to 20 years of life, mostly to heart and metabolic disease, and clozapine, the most effective antipsychotic for hard-to-treat illness, is notorious for causing weight gain and metabolic damage^[2]. Their death rate runs 2 to 3 times higher than that of the general population