Presented at the European Society of Cardiology Conference
"Suppressing Aging Reduces Mortality by 19%"
Wegovy, famous as a diet drug used by overseas celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has become a hot topic due to research findings showing it has effects beyond weight loss. It is said to be effective not only for dieting but also for delaying aging, and demand for Wegovy, which is already soaring, is expected to surge even further.
Wegovy, which gained fame as a diet drug used by overseas celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has been found to have effects on delaying aging in addition to weight loss. [Image source=Kim Kardashian SNS capture]
The British daily The Guardian reported on the 31st (local time) that such research results were announced last week at the European Society of Cardiology Conference held in London. It was confirmed that semaglutide, the main ingredient of Wegovy, affects a much wider range of diseases such as arthritis, Alzheimer's, cancer, and COVID-19, thereby reducing overall mortality rates.
Harlan Krumholz, a professor at Yale School of Medicine in the United States who presented the research results, said, "Semaglutide has a much broader range of benefits than we initially imagined," adding, "It’s not just about avoiding heart attacks; this promotes health. It’s not surprising that improving people’s health in this way actually delays the aging process."
Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 class treatment 'Wegovy (active ingredient Semaglutide)' [Photo by Novo Nordisk]
International researchers from Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which developed Wegovy, and Harvard University observed 17,604 participants aged 45 and older who were overweight or obese with cardiovascular disease but without diabetes. They divided them into a group receiving weekly semaglutide injections and a placebo group, monitoring them for over three years. The semaglutide group showed a 19% lower all-cause mortality rate compared to the placebo group. Additionally, the semaglutide group experienced improvements in heart failure symptoms and reduced inflammation levels in the body, regardless of weight loss.
The researchers confirmed that the semaglutide group had a lower probability of death from infections compared to the placebo group, and cardiovascular problems continuously decreased. Benjamin Skyrica, a professor at Harvard University, said, "The strong reduction in non-cardiovascular deaths, especially infection-related deaths, is remarkable."
Semaglutide is a drug designed to mimic the GLP-1 hormone secreted after meals, which increases satiety and reduces appetite. GLP-1 is a hormone produced when food is consumed that lowers blood sugar levels, suppresses appetite in the gastrointestinal tract, and slows digestion. It is reported that people who took Wegovy testified that they felt full after eating only about one-third of their usual amount.
Wegovy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2021 as a prescription drug for weight loss (obesity treatment). According to Novo Nordisk’s clinical results, just one injection per week led to an average weight loss of 15% after 68 weeks. In October last year, Tesla founder Elon Musk answered a question on Twitter about how he maintains his figure by saying, "Fasting, and Wegovy," which sparked a craze in the United States. Although the monthly cost of the drug is about 1.8 million won (1,350 dollars), Wegovy is experiencing a global shortage.
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