GLP-1 inhibitors like semaglutide (Ozempic)—commonly prescribed diabetes medications that lower blood sugar levels and often cause weight loss—may be able to mitigate against strokes and brain injury-related complications. That is according to the findings of three separate studies presented at the 2025 Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) annual meeting (14–18 July, Nashville, USA).
“More research is certainly needed, but seeing the potential protection offered by these medications is a fascinating finding,” said Ahmed Elbayomy (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA), primary author for two of these studies, also describing the results as “very promising”.
The studies presented at SNIS 2025 provide early signals that GLP-1 inhibitors could lessen the impact of strokes and complications resulting from brain injuries, and may even reduce stroke risks altogether.
In the first of these studies, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison used patient data from both the university’s medical centre and a global health collaborative to assess whether patients on Ozempic who experienced acute ischaemic strokes had better outcomes than patients not taking Ozempic. The global dataset included just over two million stroke patients, 43,338 of whom were also on Ozempic, while the university’s dataset included 13,510 stroke patients with 190 of them taking Ozempic.
The researchers found that, in general, death from stroke was lower in patients taking Ozempic across both cohorts. In the global dataset, 5.26% of Ozempic users initially died from their strokes compared to 21.61% of non-users, and Ozempic users also had a 77.5% chance of surviving their strokes long term compared to 30.95% of non-users. The university cohort produced similar results, with 5.26% of Ozempic users dying from their stroke versus 26.57% of patients not using Ozempic.
The second study presented at SNIS 2025—a nationwide analysis of emergency department records also led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison—saw researchers examine associations between Ozempic use and stroke risk. Their analyses ultimately revealed a link between potential Ozempic use and significantly reduced stroke odds. As such, the team has suggested taking this research further and evaluating data directly from pharmacies in order to draw even more precise conclusions about the relationship between Ozempic and stroke prevention.
The third and final study set out to assess the impact of GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic on ischaemic strokes, as well as subarachnoid and intracranial haemorrhages, using a propensity-matched, multi-institutional cohort study. Led by a team from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, USA, researchers investigated whether GLP-1 inhibitors could improve patient outcomes after brain haemorrhages—either caused by spontaneous bleeds or aneurysm rupture—as well as strokes.
They reviewed patient records from six and 12 months after each brain haemorrhage, and one and two years after each stroke, and found that GLP-1 inhibitor use was connected to a reduced risk of cognitive side-effects, seizures, future brain haemorrhage, and death after brain haemorrhage or stroke.
“This research could introduce a new perspective to the discussion of preventing and mitigating the devastating effects of stroke and related brain injuries,” commented Matias Costa (University of Texas, Galveston, USA), author of the third study.
