A new study shows that Wegovy (mainly composed of smeglutide), the "weight-loss magic drug" of Novo Nordisk, can not only lose weight, but also benefit the health of patients with diabetes and heart failure.
This report, published on Saturday (April 6th) in the medical journal New England Journal of Medicine, stated that for heart failure patients, especially those with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) associated with obesity, receiving Wegovy treatment resulted in more significant weight loss and lower incidence of serious adverse events.
This type of heart failure severely limits a person's ability to participate in daily life, and patients are often prone to fatigue, breathing difficulties, which can lead to a high risk of hospitalization, disability, and death.
At present, the methods for treating HFpEF include lifestyle changes and heart disease drugs, but there is no specifically approved treatment for HFpEF, and the number of people suffering from this disease has been significantly increasing.
Last fall, researchers released a study that showed that Wegovy had a significant positive health effect on people with this heart disease, but later they wanted to see whether Wegovy also had an effect on patients with type 2 diabetes and HFpEF.
In the latest study, 616 patients with type 2 diabetes and HFpEF were randomly divided into two groups. The patients come from 16 countries and their body mass index (BMI) is above 30. One group takes Wegovy, and the other group takes a placebo.
Researchers conducted a one-year follow-up survey on two groups of patients. The conclusion is that patients receiving Wegovy treatment have significantly better effects on weight loss, heart failure related symptoms, and physical limitations compared to those taking placebo. In addition, these patients were able to walk further in the six minute walk test and showed improvement in biomarkers for inflammation and other issues.
In terms of adverse events, the Wegovy treatment group reported 55 severe adverse events, while the placebo group reported 88 cases. In terms of the number of deaths, there were 6 deaths in the Wegovy group and 10 deaths in the placebo group, with 1 death related to cardiovascular problems in the Wegovy group and 4 deaths in the placebo group.
Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod, a researcher and cardiologist at the Central American Heart Institute in Saint Luke, said that the consistent results of the latest research and the research published last year seemed to indicate that Wegovy was an effective and safe treatment option for a wide range of people, including diabetes patients.
On Saturday, Kosiborod also introduced the study to the American College of Cardiology, and he found it very exciting because heart failure patients are usually difficult to treat, and the number of such patients is constantly increasing. But now, Wegovy has not only shown therapeutic efficacy, but also good tolerability, which means patients can withstand this treatment well without serious side effects.