Doctors Just Found Yet Another Health Issue Ozempic Can Help With

Ozempic has been considered a wonder drug for managing blood sugar in people with type-2 diabetes, and it's built up a reputation for helping people lose significant amounts of weight. But a growing body of research has discovered Ozempic may help treat a range of other health conditions. The latest to add to the list is knee pain caused by osteoarthritis.

Meet the experts: Bert Mandelbaum, M.D., a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute and Co-Director of the Regenerative Orthobiologic Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; Mir Ali, M.D., a general surgeon, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA; Alexandra Sowa, M.D ., an internal medicine doctor specializing in preventative health, nutrition, and obesity medicine and the author of the forthcoming book The Ozempic Revolution

New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine had 407 people with obesity and knee osteoarthritis take semaglutide (the active component of Ozempic and Wegovy) or a placebo over 68 weeks, along with exercise counseling and a reduced-calorie diet. At the start of the study, the average amount of pain the participants had on a 100-point scale was 70.9.

Those who took semaglutide lost an average of 13.7% of their starting body weight, while those who used the placebo lost 3.2% of their body weight. But the most significant improvement was in their knee pain.

People who took semaglutide had a shocking 41.7-point reduction in pain compared to those who took a placebo—their pain was reduced by 27.5 points. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that the semaglutide group had a "significantly greater" reduction in pain linked to knee osteoarthritis than the placebo group.

"This is a landmark finding," says Bert Mandelbaum, M.D., a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute and Co-Director of the Regenerative Orthobiologic Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Alexandra Sowa, M.D ., an internal medicine doctor specializing in preventative health, nutrition, and obesity medicine and the author of the forthcoming book The Ozempic Revolution , agrees. "I was very excited to see the reduction in knee pain," she says.

Osteoarthritis impacts 33 million American adults, and obesity is a risk factor for developing the condition, Dr. Mandelbaum points out. (Extra weight can put added stress on your weight-bearing joints like your hips and knees, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).)

So, why might Ozempic help? "I believe it's primarily due to the weight loss," says Mir Ali, M.D., a general surgeon, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. "We see the same improvements in our patients who have surgical weight loss and other weight loss."

Dr. Sowa says that doctors "theoretically know this to be true because, if we can help people lose weight, there is less weight bearing down on the joints."

But Dr. Mandelbaum points out that the link between obesity and osteoarthritis is "multifactorial."

"There are genetic aspects, physical aspects, and inflammatory aspects," he says. Ozempic can help people to lose weight, which addresses the physical link between obesity and osteoarthritis, but it may also help to tamp down on bodily inflammation, Dr. Mandelbaum says.

"That can help to reduce pain and improve symptoms," he says. "When people lose weight, they're also likely to do more exercise, too. That can help to reduce symptoms, reduce pain, and improve function."

Dr. Ali says it's hard to separate the weight loss from the semaglutide in this study. "If they had a study that compared people who lost the same amount of weight using semaglutide and not, I would say that maybe there is a secondary effect other than weight loss," he says. "But we need that data."

Currently, knee osteoarthritis is treated with anti-inflammatory medications, exercise, physical therapy, and braces, Dr. Mandelbaum says. If someone has obesity or overweight, doctors will usually recommend that they try to lose weight, too, he says. But if someone is really struggling, they may try cortisone injections or even surgery, Dr. Mandelbaum says.

If you're dealing with knee pain, Dr. Mandelbaum recommends getting an evaluation. "You need an X-ray and MRI to find out what exactly is going on so you can treat it accordingly," he says. "Weight loss and anti-inflammatories are almost always a part of treatment." If you're diagnosed with osteoarthritis and you have obesity, he says it's worth talking to your doctor to see if you're a good candidate for Ozempic or a similar medical intervention.

Dr. Ali says that the latest study findings are promising. "It's good for people to know that there are options out there," he says. "They should seek help if they're not able to lose weight on their own."

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