AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 AbstractNov 9, 2026, 00:59 GMT

Weight-loss drugs linked to longer survival in sleep apnea

Five-year survival was 95.1% among drug users, compared with 89.6% among non-users in a cohort of people with obstructive sleep apnea.

Paper by Mahshad Razaghi, Juan Maria Farina, Isabel G. Scalia, +7Reza Arsanjani · Mayo Clinic Hospital

A narrowed upper airway sits among intact dark blue-green figures, gray figures with person-shaped gaps, and a folded peptide chain.

Our read

Populations

Studied:: Cohort study of 136,782 patients with OSA, against non-users
What changed:: Five-year overall survival was higher among GLP-1RA users compared with non-users: 95.1% against 89.6%
The catch:: Drug users may have differed in underlying health or care beyond adjustment and matching
In the record:: The 15th paper on GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists with results in people; 154 on record in all.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

Among 136,782 patients with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that repeatedly blocks breathing during sleep, use of hormone-targeting drugs was linked to lower mortality in a retrospective observational cohort study. Patients averaged 59.1 years old, and 60.4% were male. They were diagnosed at three Mayo Clinic sites between January 2016 and December 2024. Of these, 24,205 received glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, drugs that activate receptors for this hormone.

After accounting for age, sex, diabetes and body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height, drug use was associated with lower mortality. The hazard ratio was 0.82, a relative measure of the death rate during follow-up. The link persisted in 17,601 matched pairs of users and non-users. It was consistent across age, sex and diabetes subgroups.

Why it matters

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with premature death. The findings support evaluating these drugs as a potential way to help people with the condition live longer.

Caveats

Drug users may have differed in underlying health or care in ways that adjustment and matching did not capture. The findings were reported in a conference abstract.