My reason for being on this is cardiovascular rather than cosmetic, which puts me in a small minority in most of these threads.
What would genuinely help is knowing how much of the SELECT benefit is plausibly independent of the weight loss, and whether that distinction changes anything practical.
I would rather have one careful answer than five confident ones.
FitDadDave said:My reason for being on this is cardiovascular rather than cosmetic, which puts me in a small minority in most of these threads.
SUSTAIN-6 was the first CVOT to show cardiovascular benefit with semaglutide, relevant to cardiovascular risk. In 3,297 T2DM patients with high CV risk: MACE HR 0.74 (95% CI 0.58-0.95, p=0.02)[1].
Notable: the retinopathy signal in SUSTAIN-6 (HR 1.76) was subsequently attributed to rapid A1C reduction in patients with pre-existing retinopathy — not a direct drug effect. This has been confirmed in longer-term follow-up studies.
[1] Marso SP, et al. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(19):1834-1844.
LabKate said:SUSTAIN-6 was the first CVOT to show cardiovascular benefit with semaglutide, relevant to cardiovascular risk.
LabKate 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.
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View ResultsFitDadDave said:My reason for being on this is cardiovascular rather than cosmetic, which puts me in a small minority in most of these threads.
Can confirm. Same sequence, different timescale.
Adding the clinical framing, because it changes how the question reads.
Senior perspective on cardiovascular risk: I'm 68 years old and started this journey skeptically. My internist recommended it after years of failed interventions.
8 months later: down 41 lbs, more mobile, pain reduced, medications simplified. My quality of life has improved dramatically. I wish this existed 20 years ago.
To other older adults hesitating: the SELECT trial proved benefit in our age group. You deserve to feel good in your body regardless of age.