The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the weight loss drug Wegoby to reduce the risk of heart disease. This is a major new development in the evolution of popular drugs.

The drug contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient in the diabetes drug Ozempic, and is the first drug approved to treat both obesity and heart disease. In the future, it will also be available to people who have had a heart attack or stroke in the past.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States

“Heart attacks, in particular, are very common,” says Dr. Scott Hagan, assistant professor of general internal medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “About 800,000 heart attacks occur in Americans each year. And about a quarter of these are people who have had a previous heart attack, making them the biggest risk factor for having a heart attack or stroke.” We know that one of them is that he’s had a heart attack before.”

Wegoby’s maker, Novo Nordisk, found the drug reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 20% compared to a placebo in a clinical trial of more than 17,000 adults. All trial participants were overweight or obese and had a history of heart disease.

It is unclear whether this drug helps prevent a person’s first heart attack or stroke.

Hagan said Wegovy may not be for everyone. However, the drug can be helpful for those who can because losing weight is key to reducing risk. This drug probably also has other effects.

“Weight loss itself may explain the reduction in cardiac events,” Hagan says. “We know that a high BMI puts you at risk for heart attack and stroke, but there’s probably another reason why it’s related to weight loss. That’s because people who take medication and lose weight also have lower blood pressure. The result is lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol. ”

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