• Posted December 10, 2024

GLP-1 Meds May Lower Clot Risk in People With Diabetes

People with diabetes who are taking GLP-1 meds such as Ozempic or Mounjaro may be getting an added bonus: Reductions in their odds for a dangerous blood clot, new research finds.

The study found that folks with diabetes who were using the drugs lowered their odds for a form of clot called venous thromboembolism (VTE) by 20%, compared to people taking another type of diabetes drug.

“From a public health perspective, given how prevalent these [GLP-1] drugs are, there is potential to see if the overall burden of VTE might be reduced at a national or population level,” said study lead author Dr. Rushad Patell. “VTE risk seems to continuously go up; maybe this will bring the curve down.” 

His team presented its findings Sunday in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

As the researchers explained, VTEs are common and dangerous clots that form in veins. The two best known forms of VTEs are pulmonary embolisms, where clots travel to the lungs, and deep vein thromboses (DVTs), where clots often form in the legs.

Any VTE can lead to hospitalization and death if left untreated.

Could the blockbuster class of new GLP-1 diabetes medications help ward off VTEs?

To find out, Patell's team tracked outcomes for more than 558,000 Americans enrolled in a major health care database.

They divided patients who were similar in terms of health into two groups of about 279,000 patients each: People who were taking a GLP-1 medicine to help control their diabetes, and those who were taking an older form of diabetes med called a DPP4i. Unlike GLP-1 drugs, DPP4is do not trigger weight loss.

At one year, an average of 6.5 people per every 1,000 patients experienced a VTE clot among the group taking a GLP-1 med, compared to 7.9 per 1,000 among those getting the other form of diabetes drug.

That worked out to a 20% reduction in clot risk, Patell and his colleagues noted. Declines were observed for both pulmonary embolisms and DVTs.

According to the researchers, it didn't matter if the patient was obese or not before taking the GLP-1 -- the benefits in terms of clot risk were similar. So it remains unclear if GLP-1s reduce clotting risk because folks lose weight or whether some other mechanism is at play.

"We would need additional studies to determine the potential mechanism, whether through weight loss or some other means,” Patell said in an ASH meeting news release.

The new study was retrospective in nature, so it could not confirm that use of GLP-1s caused the decline in clotting. So, a prospective clinical trial is needed to confirm the new findings, Patell and colleagues said.

In the meantime, the new data could still provide guidance to people with diabetes and their doctors, Patell said.

“If you’re selecting an antidiabetic agent for a patient and thrombotic risk comes into play, this data suggests that there may be some advantage to choosing a GLP-1 receptor agonist," he said.

More information

Find out more about VTEs at the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: American Society of Hematology, news release., Dec. 8, 2024