Wegovy, an injectable prescription weight loss drug, may provide effective results that help patients maintain their weight for up to four years, a new study suggests. The drug may also have cardioprotective effects in overweight and obese patients who had heart disease before starting treatment.
The drug, developed by Denmark-based global healthcare company Novo Nordisk, is based on a human hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which plays a role in regulating appetite and blood sugar levels. in recent years, various studies Researchers have been studying the role of GLP-1 agonists, drugs that mimic the effects of this hormone, on conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Wegovy’s active ingredient, a molecule called semaglutide, is another example of a GLP-1 mimic. It acts on the parts of the brain associated with hunger and satiety. Semaglutide also lowers blood sugar levels by promoting the release of insulin when blood sugar levels are already high.
Wegovy has been approved by the US food and drug administration british NHS It can be used in conjunction with diet and physical activity designed to manage excess weight and obesity.
The new analysis comes from the drug’s longest clinical trial to date, and the results were presented at an international conference. european obesity conference This week in Venice.
The results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that weekly injections of Wegovy have a range of health benefits. Researchers hope this will help pay for Novo Nordisk’s lawsuits against insurance companies and governments. expensive But it’s an effective drug.
Data were collected from the SELECT (Effect of Semaglutide on Heart Disease and Stroke in Overweight or Obese Patients) trial, which was designed to examine the drug’s impact on cardiovascular health. The trial was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that investigated patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease who were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes.
As a result, 17,604 participants from 41 countries were studied over a four-year period. Approximately 72 percent of participants were male, 84 percent were white, and the average age was approximately 62 years. Participants received either semaglutide or a placebo for the duration of the study.
In 2023, researchers published the results of this trial. Preliminary resultsThe study showed that the drug could reduce participants’ risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease-related death by 20 percent over just over three years.
In this latest analysis, participants who took semaglutide gradually lost weight by an average of 10% over the first 65 weeks of the study. Although it subsequently plateaued, the initial loss remained during the 208-week follow-up period. By comparison, the weight loss in the placebo group was only 1.5 percent, indicating a treatment difference of 8.7 percent.
Professor Donna Ryan from Pennington Biomedical Research said: ‘Long-term analysis of semaglutide shows clinically relevant weight loss in a geographically and ethnically diverse population of overweight and obese but non-diabetic adults. It has been proven that this can last for up to four years.” The New Orleans center that led the study explained: statement.
“The extent of weight loss in such a large and diverse population suggests that it may impact the public health burden of multiple obesity-related diseases. Our trial focuses on cardiovascular events. However, many other chronic conditions, such as several types of cancer, osteoarthritis, and anxiety and depression, would also benefit from effective weight management.
There were no unexpected safety results with semaglutide during the SELECT trial. The number of people who actually experienced serious adverse events was lower in the semaglutide group than in the placebo group, and this was mainly due to differences in cardiovascular problems.
However, semaglutide does not agree with everyone. Some people had to stop the trial because increasing doses of the drug caused nausea and diarrhea.
In the second study, researchers looked at the relationship between baseline weight measurements, weight change over the course of the study, and cardiovascular disease outcomes. The study found that patients in the trial experienced cardiac effects from taking the drug, regardless of their weight or how much weight they lost when they started taking semaglutide.
Essentially, even patients with relatively mild levels of obesity or with only modest weight loss may experience improved cardiovascular disease outcomes.
“These findings have important clinical implications,” added Professor John Deanfield from University College London. “About half of the patients I see in my cardiovascular practice have similar weight levels to the patients in the SELECT trial and would benefit from taking semaglutide in addition to their usual guideline-based treatment levels. There is a high possibility that you will be
“Our findings show that the magnitude of this therapeutic effect with semaglutide is independent of the amount of weight loss, and the drug has the potential to not only reduce unhealthy body fat but also reduce cardiovascular risk. This suggests that there are other effects.”
These alternative mechanisms may include positive effects on blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and inflammation. It can also directly affect the heart muscle, blood vessels, or a combination of one or more of these.
Despite these important results, it is important to emphasize that the results of the SELECT trial should not be generalized to suggest that all overweight and obese adults will have the same outcome. Although this study included a large and diverse population, it is not sufficient to rule out different results.
The first paper was natural medicine.
