(NewsNation) — The popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy may reduce the rates of severe COVID-19 reactions, including death, a new study found.
Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the trial examined 17,604 people over more than three years.
It found that, while taking semaglutide once a weekly did not reduce rates of COVID-19 overall, it led to fewer “COVID-19 related adverse events.”
Placebo-takers recorded a 3.1% occurrence, while those on the weight loss drugs noted 2.6%.
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Participants were:
45 years or older
Overweight or had obesity
Diagnosed with cardiovascular disease
Not diagnosed with diabetes
Approximately 833 total deaths occurred during the trial. Of those deaths, 58% were cardiovascular disease related while 42% weren’t.
“In general, there were consistently lower rates of all-cause death, CV death, and non-CV death in patients assigned to semaglutide compared with placebo across major subgroups, including by age, sex, race, region, atherosclerotic disease areas, renal function, or heart failure,” the study concluded.
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“These findings reinforce that overweight and obesity increases the risk of death due to many etiologies, which can be modified with potent incretin-based therapies like semaglutide,” said Benjamin Scirica, MD, MPH, lead author of the study, according to MedicalXpress reporting.
