Can Weight Loss Drugs Reduce COVID Deaths?
A popular weight loss drug reduced the risk of COVID-19 deaths, according to a new study. The research, published Friday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found during a clinical trial of Wegovy that people taking the obesity drug during the COVID pandemic were less likely to die from the virus.
Semaglutide, the active medicine found in the drug, has become a popular option for people looking to lose weight. Wegovy has been widely used along with Ozempic, and both medicines are also used for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. People taking the drug still contracted the virus during the clinical trial, but their chances of dying dropped by 33 percent, the study found.
The pandemic began after the clinical trial was already underway and it provided researchers with the opportunity to “evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on patients who were at high risk of COVID-19-related complications and death given their underlying comorbidities and whether semaglutide modified that risk.”
Excerpted from The Hill
