Obesity drugs might reduce pressure inside the skull, relieving migraines.Credit: LordHenriVoton/Getty
Head-splitting migraines could be the next ailment in a seemingly endless list that a class of blockbuster weight-loss drugs might treat. In a small study, the drug liraglutide reduced monthly migraine episodes by nearly half among people with obesity who experience the headache-inducing condition.
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This is the first clinical study to explore the potential of the popular weight-loss drugs — known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — to curb migraine, a condition that affects around 15% of people worldwide and is characterized by debilitating headaches that can be accompanied by nausea, light sensitivity and fatigue.
The pilot study’s results were presented on 21 June at the Congress of the European Association of Neurology in Helsinki, a few days after publication in the journal Headache1. The work did not include a control group, so part of the headache reduction observed could be down to the placebo effect, says Lanfranco Pellesi, a physician specializing in headache disorders at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense who was not involved in the study. (The placebo effect is when a person experiences a benefit from a drug because they know they’re taking it and expect to feel better.)
But the results are promising enough to justify a randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis, Pellesi says. Such a trial would be needed to prove that the drugs can be used against migraines, he adds.
GLP-1 drugs are already used to treat obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but they are being tested against a wide range of other conditions, including arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease and addiction.
Better quality of life
In the study, Simone Braca, a neurologist at the Federico II University of Naples in Italy, and his colleagues administered liraglutide to 31 people with chronic migraine and obesity. Before entering the study, each of the participants had tried at least two other drugs meant to prevent migraines, but experienced no benefit.
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Liraglutide is made by Novo Nordisk outside Copenhagen. The same company manufactures semaglutide, which is sold as Ozempic to treat diabetes and Wegovy to stimulate weight loss. Both liraglutide and semaglutide mimic the hormone GLP-1, which is involved in blood-sugar regulation and appetite suppression.
