Over the past several years, GLP-1 medications have proven to be incredibly versatile. Originally developed as a treatment for diabetes, the drugs have become mostly known for treating obesity and helping to promote weight loss.

Since then, the drugs have been shown to be useful in treating various other conditions, with many more still being researched. Alongside that, the positive impact on weight-management makes the drugs helpful in treating conditions that are associated or impacted by obesity.

Now, a group of researchers claim that they’ve discovered a new usage for certain GLP-1 medications: stopping the aging process.

How does Ozempic impact aging?

TruDiagnostic announced the results of a 32-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that suggests that Ozempic may reduce the user’s biologic age by just over three years.¹

Biologic age is determined by measuring how well the body’s cells and organs are functioning. This is different than chronological age, which is just the number of years someone has been alive.

In a press release, TruDiagnostic founder and director of research Ryan Smith said, “This trial is the first to show that a GLP-1 drug can improve some of the epigenetic biological aging clocks which have been shown to be the most predictive of aging and health outcomes. However, it is important to know that this study was done in an HIV patient population and more research is needed."

Smith also co-authored the study.

He continued, “These findings build on a growing body of evidence that epigenetic clocks can quantify clinical interventions," said Smith. "In the future, we hope that this data can lead to companion diagnostics which can predict responses to medications in addition to quantifying molecular aging."

"Semaglutide may not only slow aging speed, but partially reverse it in those who have more to improve," explained Varun Dwaraka, Director of Bioinformatics at TruDiagnostic and lead analyst on the trial in the same press release.

In December of last year, TruDiagnostic announced that it had developed Epigenetic Biomarket Proxies (EBPs) to improve the accuracy of results in testing for biologic aging.² According to the group, the EBPs provide

• 62% improved disease prediction
• 64% improved diagnosis
• Comprehensive longitudinal insights

In a press release issued at the time, Varun Dwaraka, Ph.D., director of bioinformatics and principal investigator of TruDiagnostic, “By capturing a long-term snapshot of health, EBPs provide more reliable and actionable insights than conventional, time-point-specific measures. We were surprised by how well these signals were captured. We think this is an easy to collect, low cost, high yield, and highly predictive platform that can be used as an omic screening tool and could be the future of precision medicine."

Dwaraka continued, “Translating large-scale molecular data into tangible solutions for healthcare has been a major bottleneck for researchers. EBPs provide a direct, cost-effective solution to this problem, representing a significant step toward disease prevention and personalized care."

Sources

1. Can Ozempic Slow Aging? New Study Raises Hope. TruDiagnostic. October 21, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/can-ozempic-slow-aging-new-study-raises-hope-302590612.html
2. TruDiagnostic Introduces Revolutionary Epigenetic Biomarker Proxies: New Diagnostic Approach Outperforms Traditional Lab Results. TruDiagnostic. December 17, 2024. Accessed October 24, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trudiagnostic-introduces-revolutionary-epigenetic-biomarker-proxies-new-diagnostic-approach-outperforms-traditional-lab-results-302333877.html