Good Morning America: Weight Loss Drugs and Heart Health
Good Morning America recently interviewed Martha Gulati, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, about the effects of anti-obesity and diabetes medications such as semaglutide (sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic) on heart health.
Wegovy recently was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as a treatment for heart disease in adults with higher weight or obesity. Clinical trials have shown the medication can lower the risk of stroke, heart attack and cardiovascular death.
Gulati told Good Morning America correspondent Becky Worley that medical experts continue to be surprised by the positive effects of this class of weight-loss drugs.
“These medications have become very interesting,” said Gulati, who holds the Anita Dann Friedman Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research. “We are finding that not only does it help patients lose weight, which is fantastic, but additionally, we finally have a trial that shows that we improve outcomes, meaning we reduce the risk of dying from any cardiovascular causes and reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.”
Gulati told Worley that the medications offer benefits even beyond those that weight loss provides.
“It makes us metabolize glucose better,” she said. “They also reduce blood pressure. They are cardio-protective, in the sense that they improve left ventricular function and improve blood flow to the heart, and they also act as a bit of a diuretic.”
Gulati added that she anticipates that the medications will continue to become even more in demand.
Click here to watch the entire segment on Good Morning America.