https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-nordisk-says-wegovy-heart-benefits-due-more-than-weight-loss-2023-11-11/
Early trial data demonstrated that Wegovy, which has been shown to help patients lose an average of 15% of their weight, also reduced incidence of heart attack, stroke or death from heart disease by 20%.
Full results from the study, presented at the American Heart Association annual scientific meeting in Philadelphia and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest the drug has other beneficial effects beyond the known health benefits from losing weight.
The heart risk difference between patients who received Wegovy, known chemically as semaglutide, and those on placebo began to appear almost immediately after starting treatment, researchers said.
So it’s not just from losing weight!
The associated risk factors include inflammation, blood pressure and blood sugar control, all of which can impact heart health.
Patients on Wegovy experienced decreases in C-reactive proteins, an indication of inflammation, similar to those reported with cholesterol lowering statins, which are known to significantly lower heart risks, researchers reported.
That is really promising!
We know that diabetes is a "heart attack" equivalent. As in if you have diabetes, your risk for heart attack is as if you've already had one, which is to say higher.
ANY control over your weight, diet, and smoking can help reduce the risk. Semaglutide is nothing new, it's been around for two decades now. It's another medication in a long list of medications that can help people with diabetes.
What I'm saying is that, if you need it, you should get it. If you don't need it, don't be lazy, just do the lifestyle stuff.
This implies that at least some of the relationship between obesity and heart issues is not the result of obesity but both being caused by low semaglutide.
I feel like I've been here before.
When I was young there was an exciting, blockbuster weight loss drug and all the benefits of it were all over the news.
Then, eventually, all the downsides were revealed and it was eventually banned from the market. (fen phen)
There is not enough research and attention being paid attention to the mental health side effects of these drugs, as well as other knock-on effects.
As well as the fact that many people cannot and will not be able to afford these drugs, meaning they will largely go to the well-to-do, further entrenching mental health issues with the poor having further body image issues as the well-to-do start thinning out. There's also the issue that since these were originally diabetes drug that their popularity as weight loss drugs will make them difficult to access for diabetes patients.
Soon, like so many things, being a healthy weight will literally only be affordable to a certain class of people, and that does have knock-on societal mental health effects. (At least in the US.)
But yeah, let's keep cheering on new drugs that haven't been on the market long enough for long-term testing and that originally was developed for people with diabetes.
Well, the flip side of that argument comes with people who are in dire circumstances and want to try a drug for the potential benefits, but can’t because it hasn’t been approved yet. I think it’s perfectly fine to welcome the good news along with the bad. Science works with transparency.
I remember when Olestra came out and it was hailed as this new thing that will allow everyone to eat high-fat foods guilt free.
Then it turned out it made you shit your pants.
Man do I have a story about a coworkers chair during the late 90s because of Olestra ….
Let’s just say it ended up in an empty cube. Good times.
Olestra's infamous diarrhea is mostly over-hyped.
Like, yeah, if you eat a lot of it you'll shit your pants. In reasonable quantities its fine, though.
But people heard "0 calories? I can eat as much as I want!" and well...