Semaglutide Linked To 40% Fewer Asthma Attacks

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A widely used weight-loss and diabetes drug may offer a surprising bonus: healthier lungs.

"GLP-1 receptor agonists are widely used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity," said lead researcher Chloe Bloom of the National Heart & Lung Institute at Imperial College London. "We wanted to use real-world health records to investigate whether people with asthma or COPD who started GLP-1 receptor agonists had fewer acute respiratory attacks."

Her team compared tens of thousands of patients prescribed either a GLP-1 medication or another type of diabetes treatment to see if they helped with asthma or COPD.