- Semaglutide, the compound on which weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are based, significantly reduced the number of cardiac events in people without diabetes in a large new, randomized, controlled trial.
- Participants in the study all had pre-existing cardiovascular disease: a previous heart attack, stroke or symptomatic peripheral arterial disease and a BMI over 27.
- While the weight loss associated with semaglutide is likely one factor in the reduction of cardiac events, the study’s authors saw the number of events go down even before maximum weight loss occurred.
Semaglutide is the chemical name for the blood-sugar management drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, developed for people with diabetes. Ozempic and Wegovy are also approved as weight-loss medications in the U.S.
For people with overweight or obesity and pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD), taking semaglutide for three years resulted in 20% fewer heart attacks, strokes, and deaths, compared to those taking a placebo, according to the new study.
The randomized, controlled study recruited over 17,000 people with overweight or obesity and preexisting cardiovascular disease. None had type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In the end, 15,425 people completed the trial.
Participants in the study lost an average of 9.4% of their body weight on semaglutide.
Weight loss from semaglutide persists as long as one remains on the medication. Typically, it is taken for the remainder of one’s life.
While such a loss of weight may reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the trial suggests that something more is going on.
The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. A. Michael Lincoff explained that semaglutide is a GLP-1 agonist, and “It’s a hormone that’s derived…
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