Semaglutide cardiovascular benefit independent of weight loss

NurseKim_ATL said:

Albumin binding above 99% is the whole reason weekly dosing works, and it is also why the trough matters more than the peak.

This is exactly what I could not find anywhere else. I will report back once I have actually tried it.

From the other side of the consultation, briefly.

Dr.CardioMD said:

...we don't know the long-term effects of cardiovascular risk...

This is a fair point, and I think intellectual honesty requires acknowledging it. GLP-1 agonists in their current form have ~8-10 years of human exposure data. That's not nothing, but it's not 30+ years either.

However: the risk-benefit calculation should also consider the KNOWN long-term effects of untreated obesity — diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, joint destruction, reduced lifespan by 5-10 years.

Uncertainty about GLP-1 long-term safety vs certainty about obesity consequences. The calculus seems clear to me, but reasonable people can disagree.

NurseAsh_DET said:

Steady state is the thing most people miss.

I will push back on the "any working dose is fine" framing. The maintenance evidence sits overwhelmingly at the top studied dose, and the extension data shows regain tracking dose reduction rather than tracking stopping. Holding low is reasonable; pretending it is evidentially equivalent is not.

Dr.CardioMD said:

SELECT is the trial that changed the framing of this class, because it was an outcome trial rather than a weight trial: about a 20% relative reduction…

Dr.CardioMD said:

...we're creating a generation dependent on cardiovascular risk...

I understand the concern, but consider this analogy: are we "creating a generation dependent on" blood pressure medication? Cholesterol medication? Thyroid medication?

Obesity is a chronic disease with biological drivers. Treating it with medication is no different from treating any other chronic condition. The "dependency" framing implies weakness or moral failure — neither of which is accurate.

If ongoing medication is what keeps someone healthy, that's successful treatment, not dependency.

Moderator note: two posts asking for a source have been merged into one. Please search the thread before asking again.