Semaglutide – the active ingredient in diabetes-cum-weightloss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy – might reduce the risk of death from heart disease in overweight people.
These were the findings of a US study funded by the product manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, in a randomised double-blind trial investigating the effect of the Wegovy dosage in preventing major adverse cardiovascular events in overweight people with cardiovascular disease.
This investigation took more than 17,600 patients with stage 1 obesity – an average body mass index (BMI) of 33 – split into groups receiving either semaglutide or a placebo over a 2-4-year period.
People with high BMI scores are more likely to experience a range of heart conditions. While the BMI isn’t necessarily an accurate indicator of a person’s health picture, at a population level it is a good predictor of these issues, particularly in large studies.
In this study, those who were given semaglutide were less likely to suffer an ‘endpoint’ event, such as a nonfatal heart attack or stroke, or death from a cardiovascular cause.
However, that margin is small. 6.5% of those administered semaglutide experienced an endpoint, compared to 8% on the placebo.
Dr Garron Dodd, head of the metabolic neuroscience research lab at the University of Melbourne who wasn’t involved in the research, described the findings as “exciting” but urged caution in inferring a definitive health outcome.
“The observed effects, while statistically significant, are relatively modest,” Dodd says.
“The mechanism through which semaglutide protects against cardiovascular-related death remains unclear, with questions arising about whether the observed benefits are solely attributed to weight loss, given the 8.5% greater reduction in body weight in the semaglutide treated group.
“Furthermore, the study’s focus on patients with mild or stage 1 obesity prompts scrutiny regarding the potential applicability of these effects in severely obese patients, who arguably face the highest risk of cardiovascular death.”
There is currently a global shortage of both Ozempic and Wegovy. Both are the subject of an upcoming episode of the Cosmos podcast Debunks.
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