HEALTH

 CNN-  Popular GLP-1 medications approved for weight loss, diabetes, and heart disease may have untapped potential to reduce the risks of substance abuse disorders, psychosis, infections, some kinds of cancer and dementia, a sweeping new study suggests.

The research also points to important and perhaps underappreciated risks of these drugs. These risks primarily involved the digestive system and included nausea and vomiting, stomach pain, heartburn and gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis. Beyond the gut, people who took GLP-1 medications were also more likely to be diagnosed with problems in their bones and joints, like arthritis and tendinitis, compared with people taking other medications to manage their blood sugar. Out of 175 different outcomes researchers included in the study, they found people who took GLP-1 medications had lower risks of 42 different health outcomes and higher risks for 19. Some of the biggest risk reductions were for shock, aspiration pneumonia, liver failure, lung failure and cardiac arrest.