STUDY: WEGOVY CUTS HEART DISEASE RISK EVEN BEFORE PEOPLE SHED WEIGHT

The weight-loss drug Wegovy slashes the risk of heart disease even before people shed many pounds, data suggests.

The drug, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, works by reducing food cravings and is also available for people with a high BMI.

New data, presented by the manufacturer Novo Nordisk, shows Wegovy can protect against heart disease in the earliest stages, while also working to dramatically cut the risk of having a heart attack, stroke or early death in high-risk patients.

Analysis of a clinical trial found it reduced the risk of having a heart attack, stroke or heart disease death by 37% in people with obesity and cardiovascular disease within the first three months of treatment.

Furthermore, within six months of treatment, Wegovy reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 50% and cut the risk of needing urgent treatment due to heart failure.

Analysis of the Select trial data also found Wegovy protected against heart disease even before people had lost clinically meaningful amounts of weight (considered as less than 5%).

This suggests Wegovy's protection against heart disease is not only related to its effect on driving weight loss, researchers said.

The effect was also found before people had even moved on to the 2.4mg maintenance dose of the drug, which is a GLP-1 receptor agonist.

Dr. Jorge Plutzky, lead study author and director of preventive cardiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School in the US, said: "Semaglutide 2.4mg is the only GLP-1 to have shown these early, rapid effects on heart disease, with benefits seen in the order of months, not years - underscoring its important role in clinical practice."

He added: "Our findings reveal an early separation in the treatment effect of semaglutide that occurs even without a significant amount of weight lost and prior to full semaglutide titration.

"More research is needed to understand the mechanisms through which semaglutide produces these early clinical benefits, but they may include the drug's positive effects on reducing inflammation, blood sugar, blood pressure, direct effects on the heart and blood vessels, early dietary changes, or an interaction among these or other responses."

The Select trial is a randomised, double-blind trial looking at semaglutide 2.4mg versus placebo for the prevention of heart attacks, strokes and early death in people with established cardiovascular disease who are overweight or have obesity.

Patients in the trial were already on other drugs such as for cholesterol and blood pressure, suggesting semaglutide had benefits on top of these. The study was presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga.

2025-05-12T23:43:51Z