Semaglutide linked to fewer asthma attacks

Researchers analyzed electronic health records in the United Kingdom. They compared people with asthma or COPD who had just been prescribed a GLP-1 drug with those who received sulfonylurea medications. This produced several parallel cohorts of 20–22 thousand people each. Against this background, semaglutide looked stronger than other drugs in its class: nearly 40% fewer asthma attacks and about 20% fewer exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Why this might be the case is still a matter of speculation. Asthma and COPD often coexist with obesity and metabolic dysfunction. If a person loses weight, breathing becomes easier. But the authors do not rule out a direct anti-inflammatory effect of GLP-1 in the airways as well. The two pathways cannot be disentangled from medical-record data.

This is not a clinical trial. Those who received semaglutide already differed from their list-neighbors—otherwise they would not have been prescribed an expensive injection. The data were presented at the European Respiratory Society congress; there is not yet a full paper with a DOI. It is too early to prescribe Ozempic “for asthma” outside current indications.

Another point does make sense. If a person is already taking a GLP-1 drug for diabetes or weight, a pulmonary bonus could turn out to be a pleasant side effect. To turn it into a treatment, separate trials are needed in which attacks are counted specifically.

Sources:

1. European Respiratory Society. "Ozempic and Wegovy linked to nearly 40% fewer asthma attacks." ScienceDaily (9 September 2026).
2. Presentation at the European Respiratory Society congress, Barcelona. A journal publication with a DOI was not available at the time the note was released.