Semaglutide—the diabetes and weight-loss drug best known under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy and developed by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk—continues to show potential as a treatment for a wide range of conditions beyond its original indications.

Recent studies have suggested these drugs may help curb opioid addiction and smoking, and may even help people live longer. Now, a new study published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association adds another potential benefit, linking semaglutide to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease. The finding is notable because Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, affecting millions of people worldwide, and available treatments can ease symptoms but do not stop the disease itself.

Semaglutide belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which were originally developed to manage type 2 diabetes and have since gained widespread use for weight loss. In the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine analyzed three years of electronic records of nearly one million Americans with type 2 diabetes. They compared patients using semaglutide with those prescribed one of seven other anti-diabetic drugs, including metformin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), and other GLP-1RAs, which mimic the effects of GLP-1 hormones.

Patients prescribed semaglutide had a 40% to 70% reduced risk of a first-time Alzheimer's diagnosis compared with patients on the other antidiabetic medications.

"The result is what we expected," Rong Xu, a biomedical informatics professor at Case Western Reserve University and the study's lead researcher, tells Fortune.

The findings build on a growing body of research indicating that semaglutide can help reduce inflammation in the body, prevent neuron damage, promote weight loss, control diabetes, and prevent cardiovascular disease—in addition to curbing the urge to smoke and drink. Xu says the drug is already lowering many of the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's.

"If we can target these risk factors…semaglutide can be beneficial in preventing or slowing down Alzheimer's disease symptoms or development," Xu says.

Xu made clear that the study was not designed to examine whether semaglutide lowers Alzheimer's risk in people without diabetes. "Diabetes itself is a risk factor [for Alzheimer's]," she says. For that reason, Xu and her team wanted to see whether people at heightened risk—those who have diabetes—would have better outcomes on semaglutide than on other diabetes medications.

The researchers caution that because the analysis relied on electronic health records rather than a randomized trial, they cannot yet say semaglutide lowers Alzheimer's risk—only that a link exists—and more research is needed. Semaglutide is not to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease. Still, Xu is optimistic about what the findings could mean for people already diagnosed with the disease. She would like to see whether semaglutide could improve outcomes or have a therapeutic effect on those currently managing Alzheimer's symptoms.