Overview
- The results were presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday and come from four parallel analyses of UK electronic health records.
- Each study compared about 20,000 to 22,000 people who started GLP-1 receptor agonists or sulfonylureas, allowing researchers to look for differences in asthma and COPD outcomes in routine care data.
- Use of semaglutide showed the strongest association, with study authors reporting roughly a 40 percent lower rate of asthma attacks and about a 20 percent lower rate of COPD exacerbations compared with other diabetes drugs.
- Investigators and independent experts warned these findings are observational, susceptible to confounding and indication bias, and should not change prescribing practice until randomized trials prespecify asthma and COPD endpoints.
- Patient groups and respiratory specialists said the signal strengthens interest in a metabolic–respiratory link, called for trials that measure lung attacks, lung function and quality of life, and urged integrating metabolic checks into respiratory care.