Two important studies stemming from the largest and most prolonged clinical trial of semaglutide’s impact on weight in more than 17,000 non-diabetic adults with overweight and obesity reveal that participants lost an average of 10% of their body weight and more than 7 centimeters from their waistline over four years.
Clinically meaningful weight loss was achieved by men and women of all races, ages, and body sizes, across all regions, with a lower rate of serious adverse events compared with placebo.
Over half of adults taking semaglutide moved down at least one BMI category after 2 years compared to 16% receiving placebo, and 12% reached a healthy BMI (25 kg/m² or less) compared with 1% in the placebo group.
Importantly, the findings also indicate that semaglutide delivers cardiovascular benefits irrespective of starting weight and the amount of weight lost—suggesting that even patients with mild obesity or those not losing weight are likely to gain some advantage.
Two important studies were presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy, based on the landmark Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes (SELECT) trial from the same international author group. The first new study, led by Professor Donna Ryan from Pennington Biomedical Research Centre, New Orleans, USA, and being published simultaneously in Nature Medicine, examines the long-term weight effects of semaglutide. The second study led by led by Professor John Deanfield from University College London, UK, investigates whether the cardiovascular benefits are related to starting weight or the amount of weight lost.
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 medication primarily prescribed for adults with type 2 diabetes but is also approved for weight loss in people with obesity or overweight who have at least one other health issue. This class of medications simulates the functions of the body’s natural incretin hormones, which help to lower blood sugar levels after a meal. Adjusting these hormone levels can also make people feel full, and in doing so, helps lower their daily calorie intake.
In 2023, the SELECT trial reported that adults with overweight or obesity but not diabetes taking semaglutide for more than 3 years had a 20% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or death due to DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02996-7
This article is based on abstracts 0357, 0566, 1233 at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO). All accepted abstracts have been extensively peer-reviewed by the congress selection committee. Abstract 0357 is to be co-published in Nature Medicine.