The popular weight-loss jabs Wegovy and Mounjaro might be doing more than just helping people shed the pounds – they could also be slowing the ageing process, a study found.
In mice that were a healthy weight to start with, Wegovy made them live 12 per cent longer – equivalent to a person living until 93 instead of 83.
The findings are leading some to suggest that these injections could one day be used as anti-ageing drugs by everyone – regardless of weight.
But could the fountain of youth really be under our noses, or is this yet another anti-ageing “breakthrough” that’s too good to be true?
How energy bills may rise in January – what it means for your money
The Iran war has driven gas prices in the UK and Europe to their highest level since the start of the Ukraine war, prompting concern that a further price rise for consumers is locked in for the new year.
Forecasters are predicting that the energy price cap could rise in January to £1,970 – a rise of about £250 on the limit in place from October.
Everything you need to know
- The global supply of natural gas has been pegged back by the virtual elimination of Qatar, one of the world’s biggest exporters, from the market by the war in the Persian Gulf.
- Consequently, wholesale prices have shot up as European buyers compete with Asia for the reduced number of Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes.
- British consumers are unusually exposed to these fluctuations because gas costs are used as the benchmark for energy bills. The UK is still heavily reliant on gas for heating and electricity generation.
Is increased government help for bill payers coming?
Andy Burnham has made tangible help with the cost of living one of the keystones of his premiership. But the chaos on global energy markets is reducing his ability to come to consumers’ aid.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has made it known that she is seeking new financial support for households in October’s budget to try to soften the blow of a January price hike. Whether the Treasury will be able to find the funds to do so remains to be seen.
Charlie Kirk murder suspect faces death penalty
A US judge has ruled that a 23-year-old Utah man charged with the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk can face the death penalty if convicted at trial.
Everything you need to know
- Kirk, 31, had built a reputation as a rising star of the American right with his debating events advocating conservative positions, held at campuses across the US.
- The activist and father of two was shot by a rooftop sniper on 10 September, 2025, suffering a fatal neck wound.
- Prosecutors claim they have unassailable evidence that Tyler Robinson is the killer, including DNA allegedly tying him to the murder weapon and confessions he is claimed to have made to loved ones.
How defence lawyers sought to have death penalty taken off the table
Robinson is facing a charge of , a capital offence in Utah which can carry the death penalty. Prosecutors argue that factors including allegedly firing into a crowd containing children warrant a capital trial.
But defence lawyers have attempted to sow doubt about the prosecution case, saying no bullets struck anyone other than Kirk and raising questions about the credentials of testifying experts. Robinson pleaded not guilty.
Four charged with murder after baby fatally stabbed
Two men and two women have been charged with murder after a baby girl was found stabbed to death at a house in Sheffield.
What you need to know
- Police were called to the home in the Wincobank area of Sheffield on Sunday morning after reports of concern for the safety of newborn girl.
- After a search of the property, officers found the body of the infant. A post-mortem examination found the baby had died as a result of stab wounds.
- Andrea Skopova, 20, Peter Horvath, 19, Peter Horvath, 38, and Nina Horvathova, 37, were each charged with three offences, including murder, on Tuesday. They are due to appear in court.
Teenager accused of related offence
The Crown Prosecution Service said a 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had also been charged with an allegation of perverting the course of justice in connection with the incident.
South Yorkshire Police said it was dealing with an “intricate investigation”. Commenting on the charges, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Woodward said: “This is a significant step in our investigation into the tragic circumstances that resulted in the death of this baby girl.”
How the triple lock could be replaced
The state pension triple lock, which pegs payments to the highest of three economic measures, “has to stop” and should be replaced by a link to average earnings, a leading economist has warned.
What you need to know
- First introduced in 2015, the triple lock increases the state pension annually by whichever is the highest of inflation, wage increases or 2.5 per cent and will cost £15.5bn per annum by 2030.
- Paul Johnson, the former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, warns that the policy will “take up the whole economy” if left unreformed.
- Johnson is suggesting the state pension be set as a fraction of average full-time earnings, with 33 per cent considered to be “about right”.
How would an average earnings link work
The new state pension currently sits at about 30 per cent of median full-time earnings (£39,039). A target figure for the pension as a fraction of wages – say 33 per cent – could become the benchmark for all future payments.
The system, known as a “smoothed earnings link”, would allow the pension to go up in line with inflation when it rises faster than earnings. But in other years it would remain pegged to wages, saving £650m in 2029-30.
Iran attacks US bases in the Middle East
The Iranian regime launched attacks on US military assets in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq overnight fuelling concerns about a wider resumption of hostilities.
Everything you need to know
Iranian counter-strikes
A US Marines training camp in Jordan was targeted. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Tehran claimed it had struck US warehouses in Iraqi Kurdistan. In Kuwait, the military said it had responded to Iranian missile attacks.
US resumes attacks
The Iranian assault follows American strikes in the Strait of Hormuz after a calm in hostilities.
Alleged attack on wedding
Tehran said it was responding to US strikes on its territory on Tuesday. The Iranian Red Crescent said five people, including a child, had been killed when shrapnel from an American missile hit a wedding celebration.
3 min read
Pentagon denies targeting civilians
The latest exchange of fire between the US and Iran represents a distinct escalation in a conflict which had gone into a lull for several weeks. American strikes early on Monday have led to a series of attacks.
The US military said it was aware of reports that five people were killed and more than 50 injured in a missile strike in Sirik, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian sources said the victims were attending a wedding celebration. But the Pentagon said it “never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC”.
Trump’s military is at breaking point – he’ll pay for it at the ballot box
The attack by US drones on Iran’s Larak Island reveals that Donald Trump’s mission control, like Houston and Apollo 13, has a major problem.
The test that can spot nine in 10 bladder cancers
An at-home urine test being trialled by the NHS can detect 92 per cent of bladder cancer cases, potentially reducing the need for patients to face more urgent and invasive procedures.
A study of 1,000 patients led by the University of Birmingham found a in the simple test meant there was a more than 99 per cent chance that a patient did not have bladder cancer.
Everything you need to know
- Around 11,000 cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year. It is more common in men and 60 per cent of cases are in those aged 75 and over.
- The new test looks for genetic material – caused by more than 450 DNA mutations – shed into the urine by bladder cancer.
- A wider trial will establish whether the test is sufficient to rule out further procedures for negative results – and can help identify patients at greater risk of disease.
More convenience for patients
Researchers hope the test, developed with funding from Cancer Research UK, could reduce the number of patients needing cystoscopies – an invasive procedure which involves inserting a small camera into the bladder via the urethra.
Some 300,000 cystoscopies are carried out each year but there are lengthy waiting lists in some areas. By potentially ruling out cancer in tens of thousands of cases, it is hoped the new test could help doctors prioritise those in urgent need.
Over two million people in Britain are thought to be taking weight-loss medication since their UK launch a few years ago – Wegovy in 2023 and Mounjaro the following year. The medicines work by mimicking hormones normally released after eating, making people fuller and blunting their appetite.
Reductions in inflammation, DNA damage
The drugs are supposed to be taken only by people over a certain weight. And research has so far mainly been in people or animals that are either overweight or have health conditions like heart or liver disease.
But in the new study, researchers gave injections of semaglutide – the same drug as in Wegovy – to female mice that were both healthy and a normal weight. Treatment was started when the animals were 20 months old, the equivalent of 60 years in humans.
As expected, the treated mice ate less food and ended up 19 per cent lighter than mice given placebo injections.
But the researchers found something more significant: the mice on Wegovy lived for about 27 months – three months longer than those in the control group.
The mice were also subjected to tests designed to probe how their cells and tissues were functioning.
The effects of Wegovy were consistent with it having a true anti-ageing effect, including reductions in inflammation, DNA damage and a process called cell senescence.
Senescence is when individual cells within an organ stop multiplying to regenerate tissues – as happens when we are younger – but instead enter a dormant state and release harmful chemicals. Other experimental drugs that target senescence are being investigated as a new class of anti-ageing drugs.
“We can potentially use this drug to slow down the ageing process and make healthy individuals live longer,” said Professor Danica Chen, a biologist at University of California, Berkeley, who led the study.
Radical anti-ageing strategy
Chen began the study hoping to find out if Wegovy could achieve similar results to a different radical anti-ageing strategy called calorie restriction.
This is when people go on a permanent lower-calorie diet – for women that might be about 1,500 calories a day instead of the usual 2,000 – not for weight loss but in the hope it will make them live longer.
Calorie restriction has been found to work at extending lifespan in many small animals – from two to three weeks in tiny worms, for instance. The theory is that when energy is scarce, the body prioritises repair and regeneration processes.
Some people manage to follow calorie restriction long term, but it is a challenging lifestyle to maintain.
As Wegovy suppresses appetite, it could be the key to achieving calorie restriction in an easier way, said Chen.
The bad news
But before we assume weight-loss jabs really are the first anti-ageing drugs, there are reasons for caution.
Even before the arrival of weight-loss drugs, anti-ageing researchers had some reservations about calorie restriction. While studies in small animals like worms and flies yielded impressive effects, when the strategy is tried in monkeys, one study found a much smaller benefit and another none.
Just because an anti-ageing strategy works in mice, that doesn’t mean it will work in people, said Dr Saul Newman, a longevity researcher at the University of Oxford who has a book coming out called Morbid: Debunking Modern Longevity Science.
What’s more, even when weight-loss jabs are used in their intended target – on people who are overweight – they are no panacea. They cause mild side effects like nausea and diarrhoea in most people, especially when they start off or the dose is increased. Some find these so unpleasant they stop the jabs.
The drugs can also cause rare but more serious side effects, like pancreatitis and gall stones. Anyone at risk of these conditions may not be able to use them.
The study only looked at Wegovy injections, so we can’t assume the results would be the same with the medicine in pill form, or Mounjaro, which mimics two gut hormones as opposed to Wegovy’s one.
Not to mention the fact that the research was only carried out in female mice – so, bad luck for any men wanting the secret to longevity.
“We know that there are significant biological differences in tissues between mice and humans, such as our fat tissue, and between male and females,” said Dr Laura Sinclair, healthcare lecturer at the University of Exeter.
More research is needed to establish whether weight-loss drugs could work for anti-ageing, she said.
Despite the caveats, the results are making obesity and longevity researchers sit up – but it is probably too soon to get excited yet.
And that’s probably fortunate, because for now, weight-loss drugs are priced out of reach for most people, at £200 to £300 a month – although the cost is likely to plunge dramatically within the next decade, once the patent expires on Wegovy.