Study: Diabetes, Obesity Drugs Not Linked to Suicidal Thoughts

Study: Diabetes, Obesity Drugs Not Linked to Suicidal Thoughts

研究：糖尿病、肥胖药物与自杀想法无关

【听力音频】

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　　By Dan Novak

　　22 January 2024

　　A large U.S. study found no evidence that taking Ozempic or Wegovy is tied to an increase in suicidal thoughts, researchers reported recently.

　　Both Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and the obesity treatment Wegovy have the same active ingredient, semaglutide.

　　The analysis included electronic medical record data from more than 1.8 million patients. Researchers actually found a lower risk of new and recurring suicidal thoughts in those taking semaglutide compared to those using other medications for weight loss or diabetes.

　　Semaglutide belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, which were designed to treat type 2 diabetes. In addition to helping control blood sugar levels, the drugs produce a feeling of fullness.

　　Concerns over reports of suicidal ideation connected with semaglutide led to an investigation by the European Medicines Agency. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed suicidal ideation as a possible safety concern for GLP-1 drugs.

　　A Reuters examination last year found that the FDA had received 265 reports of suicidal thoughts or behavior in patients taking semaglutide or similar medicines since 2010. Thirty-six of those reports describe a death by suicide or suspected suicide.

　　Such events do not prove a connection between a drug and a side effect. But they can signal to officials a need to study a specific risk.

　　The study appeared online in the journal Nature. It was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The researchers examined data on 240,258 U.S. patients prescribed Wegovy or other medications for weight loss and nearly 1.6 million with type 2 diabetes prescribed Ozempic or other treatments.

　　Researchers compared nearly 53,000 Wegovy patients to the same number of closely matched users of other weight-loss drugs.

　　They found that during the first six months of use, first-time suicidal thoughts were reported by 0.11 percent of Wegovy users. That is compared to 0.43 percent of users of other drugs that do not belong to the same class as semaglutide.

　　After taking other risk factors into consideration, the risk of first-time suicidal thoughts was 73 percent lower with Wegovy, the researchers said.

　　No patient in the Wegovy group reported a suicide attempt, compared to 14 users of the other drugs, the report said.

　　Among patients with a history of suicidal thoughts, the risk of recurring suicidal thoughts was 56 percent lower with Wegovy than other weight-loss medicines.

　　Similar patterns were seen for use of Ozempic compared with other diabetes drugs.

　　The findings were consistent no matter the patients' sex, age, or ethnicity for both semaglutide types, the researchers found.

　　Such a study cannot prove that GLP-1 agonists do not increase the risk of suicidal ideation. But the findings may reduce concerns.

　　The researchers were unable to assess the statistical significance of differences in actual suicide attempts. The researchers noted that suicide attempts are "critically different from suicidal ideations."

　　Pamela Davis is a professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Ohio. She was one of the writers of the study. She said the growth in popularity of Ozempic makes it very important "to understand all its potential complications."

　　Suggestions that the drug may cause suicidal thoughts are not supported by "this very large and diverse population in the U.S.," Davis added.

　　I'm Dan Novak.

　　Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters.

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　　作者：Dan Novak

　　2024年1月22日

　　最近，一项大型美国研究发现，没有证据表明服用Ozempic或Wegovy会增加自杀的想法。

　　用于治疗2型糖尿病的Ozempic和肥胖治疗药物Wegovy都含有相同的活性成分，semaglutide。

　　这项分析包括了超过180万患者的电子病历数据。研究人员实际上发现，与使用其他减肥或糖尿病药物的人相比，服用semaglutide的人新发和复发的自杀想法的风险更低。

　　Semaglutide属于一类被称为GLP-1激动剂的药物，这类药物主要用于治疗2型糖尿病。除了帮助控制血糖水平，这些药物还能产生饱腹感。

　　由于有报道称semaglutide与自杀想法有关，这引发了欧洲药品管理局的调查。美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）将自杀想法列为GLP-1药物可能的安全问题。

　　去年，路透社的一项调查发现，自2010年以来，FDA收到了265份报告，报告中的患者在服用semaglutide或类似药物后出现了自杀想法或行为。其中36份报告描述了自杀或疑似自杀的死亡事件。

　　这些事件并不能证明药物和副作用之间存在联系。但它们可以向官员们发出信号，需要研究特定的风险。

　　这项研究在线发表在《自然》杂志上。研究由美国国家卫生研究院资助。研究人员检查了240,258名美国患者的数据，这些患者被开具了Wegovy或其他减肥药物的处方，以及近160万名被开具了Ozempic或其他治疗方案的2型糖尿病患者的数据。

　　研究人员将近53000名Wegovy患者与同等数量的其他减肥药物使用者进行了比较。

　　他们发现，在使用的前六个月中，有0.11%的Wegovy用户报告了首次出现自杀想法。相比之下，使用其他不属于semaglutide同类药物的用户中，有0.43%的人报告了首次出现自杀想法。

　　研究人员表示，在考虑了其他风险因素后，使用Wegovy的首次自杀想法的风险降低了73%。

　　报告称，Wegovy组中没有患者报告自杀尝试，而其他药物的使用者中有14人报告了自杀尝试。

　　在有自杀想法历史的患者中，使用Wegovy的复发自杀想法的风险比其他减肥药物低56%。

　　使用Ozempic与其他糖尿病药物相比，也出现了类似的模式。

　　研究人员发现，无论患者的性别、年龄或种族，对于两种semaglutide，这些发现都是一致的。

　　这样的研究不能证明GLP-1激动剂不会增加自杀想法的风险。但这些发现可能会减少人们的担忧。

　　研究人员无法评估实际自杀尝试差异的统计学意义。研究人员指出，自杀尝试与自杀想法是“截然不同的”。

　　Pamela Davis是俄亥俄州凯斯西储大学医学院的教授。她是这项研究的作者之一。她说，Ozempic的受欢迎程度的增长使得“了解其所有可能的并发症”变得非常重要。

　　Davis补充说，有关该药物可能引发自杀想法的建议并未得到“美国这个非常大且多样化的人口”的支持。

　　我是Dan Novak。

　　Dan Novak根据路透社的报道，为美国之音学习英语改编了这个故事。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　obesity — n. 肥胖，以一种不健康的方式过于肥胖

　　recur — v. 再次发生或出现

　　ideation — n. 想法或概念的形成

　　prescribe — v. 官方指定某人使用某种疗法或治疗方法

　　consistent — adj. 总是以相同的方式行动或表现

　　diverse — adj. 彼此不同的