Obesity and heart disease are two of the biggest health problems in the world today.
Millions of people struggle with weight, and being overweight increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Doctors have long looked for safe and effective ways to lower these risks. Now, a new study has shown that a drug called semaglutide, which was first created to help people with type 2 diabetes, may be a game-changer for heart health even in people who do not have diabetes.
Semaglutide is a medication that mimics a natural hormone in the body called GLP-1. This hormone helps control blood sugar and appetite. Because of this, semaglutide was first approved to treat type 2 diabetes.
Later, it was also approved as a treatment for weight loss because many people who took it experienced a major drop in body weight. But scientists wondered whether it could also protect the heart, especially since obesity and heart problems are often closely linked.
To find out, researchers launched a large international study that lasted for three years. The study included people who were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes.
Importantly, many of these participants had already experienced heart problems, such as blocked arteries or heart attacks in the past. This made the study very important because these people were already at high risk of future heart events.
Participants were divided into two groups. One group received semaglutide through a weekly injection using a small pen-like device. The other group received a placebo, which looked the same but had no active medicine inside.
Neither the patients nor the doctors knew who was getting the real medicine and who was getting the placebo. This “double-blind” design helped make sure the results were fair and not influenced by expectations.
The results were striking. People who took semaglutide had about a 20 percent lower chance of suffering from heart attacks, strokes, or dying from heart disease compared to those who took the placebo. In addition, participants lost an average of 9.4 percent of their body weight, which is a big difference compared to most weight loss programs.
The study also found that semaglutide was generally safe. Some people stopped taking it because of stomach problems like nausea, but these side effects were usually mild.
This discovery is exciting because it shows that semaglutide can do more than just help with diabetes and weight loss. It can also protect the heart, especially for people who are overweight or obese and already dealing with heart disease.
With obesity rates continuing to climb worldwide, this medication could provide hope for millions of people who face serious health risks.
Of course, there are still some questions to answer. For example, most of the study participants were men, so future research needs to include more women to see if the benefits are the same. Scientists also want to better understand exactly how the drug
works to protect the heart.
For now, though, the message is clear: semaglutide may be one of the most important new tools we have in the fight against heart disease.
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