Semaglutide (product name: Wegovy)®) It may significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and other heart-related diseases among the millions of obese Americans who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, a Yale University study shows.
A growing number of populations will benefit from the application of SELECT study results, demonstrating the growing importance of these agents as tools to improve health outcomes.
Ania Jastrebov, MD
The study is part of the Effects of Semaglutide on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Overweight or Obese People (SELECT) trial, which researchers presented in full at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia on November 11. Based on. The trial’s leaders previously found that semaglutide reduced the risk of major cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death by 20% in adults over 45 with heart disease and obesity but no history of diabetes. The company announced top-line results that showed a decline in sales. .
Semaglutide could benefit more than 6 million Americans
The Yale study, published in Obesity (January 2023), estimated that 6.6 million Americans could benefit from the drug, using inclusion criteria from the SELECT trial. “The potential for population benefit is huge because many people have the potential to improve their health,” says lead author Dr. Yuan Lu, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology).
Previous studies have already shown that Ozempic®, the same drug but approved to treat diabetes, reduces cardiovascular risk in people living with obesity and diabetes. However, this trial confirms that the benefits of semaglutide also apply to people without diabetes, a population that the Yale University study shows has increased by about 50% over the past decade.
“Our findings highlight the growing population that will benefit from the application of SELECT trial results and demonstrate the growing importance of these drugs as tools to improve health outcomes. ,” says Ania Jastrebov, MD, associate professor of medicine. He is a pediatrician (endocrinology), director of the Yale Obesity Research Center (Y-Weight), and co-director of the Yale Center for Weight Management.
Minority groups show high need for access to semaglutide
The study also focuses on different racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups that could benefit greatly from the use of semaglutide. “Our research shows that minority populations and people of low socio-economic status are disproportionately represented among those who could benefit. We need to ensure that these drugs are available to everyone who can benefit,” says Harlan M. Krumholtz, MD, SM, Harold. H. Hines Jr. Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation.
Other Yale authors of the study include Rohan Khera, MD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiovascular medicine) and biostatistics (health informatics), and Chima Khera, assistant professor of public health (health care policy). Includes Dr. Ndumele.
