{"id":870206,"date":"2026-06-16T02:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/870206\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T02:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:48:22","slug":"type-2-diabetes-semaglutide-may-help-protect-bone-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/870206\/","title":{"rendered":"Type 2 diabetes: Semaglutide may help protect bone health"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>People with type 2 diabetes can be at a higher risk for broken bones when they use weight-loss strategies. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Semaglutide is a medication that can help with diabetes management and weight loss. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A recent study found that, compared to other weight-loss medications, semaglutide appeared to help the most with weight loss and was linked to a 15% decrease in fractures. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The use of weight-loss medications like semaglutide is becoming more and more popular.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK603723\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">Semaglutide<\/a> is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist used to help with type 2 diabetes management and weight loss. One area of less research is how semaglutide impacts bone health.<\/p>\n<p>Recent study results shared at the Endocrine Society meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/endo2026.endocrine.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">ENDO 2026<\/a> indicate that semaglutide was linked to higher weight loss and a 15% decrease in broken bones when it was compared to other weight loss medications. <\/p>\n<p>These findings \u2014 which are yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal \u2014 suggest that semaglutide may be beneficial for bone health. <\/p>\n<p>This current study involved people with type two diabetes who received weight-loss medication. The study authors explain that in people with type 2 diabetes, weight loss interventions can increase the risk of bone breakage because people experience accelerated bone loss.<\/p>\n<p>They also note that semaglutide might benefit bone health and thus set out to compare it to other weight-loss medications. <\/p>\n<p>Researchers utilized the Atropos Health Eos electronic health record dataset. This allowed them to look at extensive data from people in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Eligible participants were adults who had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/317462\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">type 2 diabetes<\/a> and no previous fractures. Participants were also not on medications to treat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/155646\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">osteoporosis<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Researchers looked at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/323586\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">body mass index (BMI)<\/a> at baseline, after 1 year\u2019s time, and how BMI changed in the interim. <\/p>\n<p>Baseline characteristics like age and BMI were similar between the two groups after researchers conducted matching.<\/p>\n<p>There were 17,506 participants in each group, and 4,191 pairs had available information on BMI.<\/p>\n<p>Study author <a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.stanford.edu\/sun-kim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">Sun H Kim<\/a>, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Gerontology, and Metabolism at Stanford, summarized the findings to to Medical News Today, saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow css-16qqzel\">\n<p>\u201cWe found that semaglutide compared to other weight loss medications, including another GLP-1 medication called dulaglutide, reduced risk of future fractures despite being associated with greater weight loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Overall, semaglutide was linked to a bigger decrease in BMI. The semaglutide group also experienced fewer fractures than the control group. The average follow-up time looking at fractures was over 3 and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>The group on semaglutide only experienced 794 fractures, while the control group experienced 1,045. Researchers concluded that \u201csemaglutide was associated with a 15% reduction in fracture incidence.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The full research has not been published yet, so the full limitations are not clear at this time. However, it is possible that researchers did not account for factors that played into the observed results.<\/p>\n<p>Since researchers used electronic health record data, missed information is also a possibility. Furthermore, the data they had access to only included individuals seen at academic medical centers and community hospitals. <\/p>\n<p>Additionally, researchers did not have data on BMI for many participants, which also limits the findings. And using BMI as a way to measure weight loss also comes with its own <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11204233\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">limitations<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>This research specifically focused on people with type 2 diabetes, so more research is needed in other groups, and the results should not be generalized. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/doctors.utmbhealth.com\/profile\/065964\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">Burak Altintas<\/a>, MD, an orthopedist with UTMB, who was not involved in this study, further highlighted the following limitations of the research:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow css-16qqzel\">\n<p>\u201cThe limitations include retrospective design and likely residual confounding despite matching as fracture risk is influenced by many variables that are not reported [\u2026] Further, the comparison group is heterogeneous, combining another GLP-1 receptor agonist (dulaglutide) with two mechanistically different weight-loss medications. The relatively small BMI-analysis cohort (4,191 matched pairs) compared with the overall matched cohort raises concerns regarding missing data and potential selection bias. In addition, the fractures were analyzed as a composite outcome. Thus, it is unclear whether effects differed between hip, vertebral, wrist, or other fractures.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.memorialcare.org\/providers\/mir-b-ali\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"content-link css-1h9c35y\">Mir Ali<\/a>, MD, a bariatric surgeon, bariatric medicine specialist and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, likewise not involved in this study, also noted that \u201cthis research shows a benefit of semaglutide over other diabetes treatment approaches.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever,\u201c Ali cautioned, \u201cit is difficult to attribute the improvement solely to semaglutide based on this study alone. Additional research is necessary to examine fracture reduction independent of weight loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This research may also mainly pave the way for more research, rather than giving definite answers. Altintas stressed that \u201cThe findings should be viewed as hypothesis-generating rather than practice-changing.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe study suggests that semaglutide does not appear to increase fracture risk and may potentially reduce it, but randomized prospective studies with bone mineral density, bone turnover markers, and fracture endpoints will be needed before concluding that semaglutide has true bone-protective properties,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n<p>The results indicate that semaglutide might help protect bones. \u201cOur study suggests that semaglutide may have bone protective effects despite its effect on weight loss,\u201d explained Kim. <\/p>\n<p>Altintas also noted that \u201cif these findings are confirmed by prospective studies, several important clinical implications emerge.\u201c<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow css-16qqzel\">\n<p>\u201cFirst, clinicians may be less concerned that semaglutide-induced weight loss inherently increases fracture risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. Second, for diabetic patients at elevated fracture risk, semaglutide could become a preferred weight-loss agent compared with alternatives that may have less favorable skeletal effects. Third, as GLP-1 receptor agonists become increasingly utilized, understanding their effects on bone health becomes critical, particularly in older adults and postmenopausal women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Burak Altintas, MD<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Still, the results don\u2019t mean that semaglutide is always the best option when it comes to weight loss. Ali also noted that, \u201cif it can be demonstrated that semaglutide improves fracture risk independent of weight loss, it would provide another clear indication for its prescription.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever,\u201c he said, \u201cI do not believe that conclusion can be made based on this specific study. While numerous studies have shown the benefits of semaglutide, we often see similar outcomes when patients achieve a healthy weight through other means, such as surgery.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFurther research into semaglutide and other hormone agonist medications is needed to determine which effects are independent of weight loss,\u201d advised Ali.<\/p>\n<p>It is important for anyone interested in using semaglutide or other weight loss medications to talk with their doctors about options and form an appropriate weight loss plan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People with type 2 diabetes can be at a higher risk for broken bones when they use weight-loss&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":870207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[34],"tags":[3655,3654,210,1060,15209,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-870206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-diabetes","tag-glp-1","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-semaglutide","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116757509304610926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}