Popular weight loss drug found to reduce risk of heart complications, study shows

Taking a weight loss drug may also help reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiac death, data shows.

Wegovy, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat obesity, reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiac death in people who are overweight or obese and have heart failure, according to a study published Aug. 24, in the medical journal Lancet.

The study, funded by Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, looked at over 17,000 people in 41 countries who were over the age of 45 with pre-existing heart disease.

Over 4,000 people in the study had some form of heart failure.

Those treated with Wegovy, whose active ingredient is semaglutide, experienced a reduction in major cardiac events by up to 28%, and saw a 24% reduction in the risk of cardiac-related death and a 19% reduction in the risk of death from any cause.

Previous data from the same study, published in December in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that taking Wegovy reduced the risk of heart-related issues by up to 44% in people who are overweight or obese and without diabetes.

Over a span of, on average, 34 months, the people in the study taking Wegovy not only saw their risk of cardiac complications lower but also saw lower blood pressure levels and weight loss greater than people in the placebo group.

Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 Receptor Agonists that help people increase the amount of insulin in their body to lower the amount of sugar in their blood.

Semaglutide, the drugs' active ingredient, works by slowing down the movement of food through the stomach and curbing appetite, thereby causing weight loss.

In the study, nearly 17% of the Wegovy users had side effects including cardiac, GI and nervous system issues serious enough to make them to drop out of the study.

Among all medications used for weight loss, the most commonly reported side effects are nausea and constipation, but irreversible gallbladder and pancreatic disease is also reported.

Makers of these drugs recommend having a conversation about the side effect profile and personalized risks with a healthcare professional before starting.

Kierstin Luber, DO, MPH, a member of the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.