Could GLP-1 Drugs Help Slow the Aging Process? (Exclusive)

Dr. Sohaib Imtiaz, Chief Medical Officer at PEOPLE Inc., explains what researchers currently understand about whether GLP-1 medications can lower biological age.

NEED TO KNOW

• A mouse study found semaglutide reduced aging markers and extended lifespan by about 12%
• Experts say human research has not yet proven that GLP-1 medications can slow biological aging
• The drugs may support brain health and reduce inflammation despite changes to resting heart rate

GLP-1 medications have been praised as breakthrough drugs and valuable tools for managing weight in people with diabetes and obesity. Researchers have also found a number of other possible benefits. GLP-1s may reduce cravings for drugs and alcohol, could increase testosterone levels, and early studies suggest they may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers are now examining whether GLP-1s can also reduce biological age.

“Your biological age is how old your body behaves, as opposed to the number on your birth certificate,” says Dr. Sohaib Imtiaz, chief medical officer at PEOPLE Inc. and a certified lifestyle medicine physician with an interest in longevity.

“A lower biological age is linked to a lower risk of dying from any cause, and to delaying many age-related diseases at once — heart disease, kidney disease, dementia and frailty.”

He says slowing the aging process can be achieved by “eating less — without malnutrition. It is the most robustly proven way to slow aging in animals, and GLP-1s appear to tap into the same nutrient-sensing and longevity pathways.”

The strongest evidence comes from a recent study in Nature, Imtiaz says. “Older female mice, roughly the equivalent of 60-year-old humans, were given semaglutide (a GLP-1 sold under brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) for three months. They showed fewer hallmarks of aging and lived about 12% longer on average than untreated mice: 834 days versus 742.”

Another encouraging area of study involves the brain. “In the mouse study, the restoration of neural stem cells and new brain-cell growth was one of the most striking findings,” Imtiaz says. “The brain is the most exciting frontier.”

Even so, it is still unclear whether those findings apply to people. Although GLP-1 medications have shown promise for several serious health conditions, it is still too early to describe them as age-reversing drugs, Imtiaz says.

“‘Slows aging’ is still a hypothesis,” Imtiaz explains. “We see promising indirect signals — lower death rates, slower biological aging clocks, fewer age-related diseases — but no human trial has yet measured aging itself as a main goal of GLP-1 treatment.”

Researchers are also continuing to study possible downsides, including the medications’ effects on the heart.

“GLP-1 receptor agonists consistently lower heart rate variability (HRV) while raising resting heart rate,” Imtiaz says.

“HRV is the small, beat-to-beat variation in the time between heartbeats,” he explains. “High variability is ideal — it’s a sign that the ‘rest-and-digest,’ or calming side, of the nervous system is strong and the system can adapt quickly. Low variability means that calming brake is weak and the ‘fight-or-flight,’ or stress, side is running the show.”

However, these changes have not been shown to outweigh the drugs’ established cardiovascular benefits, including lower blood pressure, reduced cholesterol and an overall lower risk of cardiac events. In Imtiaz’s view, “GLP-1s reduce heart disease risk, [so] it hasn’t translated to real world harm in the trials.”

Still, with emerging research showing that GLP-1 medications may reduce low-grade inflammation throughout the body and produce positive changes in multiple organs, Imtiaz says there is a “real possibility” they could eventually be marketed as longevity drugs.