I’m Dr. Raymond Singer, and today I want to talk to you about the new GLP-1 medications, drugs like semaglutide and terzepatide, and why they have become one of the most important advances in preventing heart disease.

Now before I get started, I want to provide you with an important disclaimer, and that is I have absolutely no connection to any pharmaceutical company. I am not a paid consultant and I do not own any stock in any pharmaceutical company. The purpose of this video, like all my videos, is purely for educational purposes.

Now getting back to the GLP-1 medications, most people know these medications for weight loss or diabetes. But what we are learning is that their benefits may go far beyond the number on your weight scale.

Now, excessive weight, insulin resistance, inflammation, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, and diabetes all place a stress on the heart and blood vessels. We talk about that in almost all of my videos. Over time, that can lead to cardiac disease, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and the need for procedures like stents or bypass surgery.

GLP-1 medications work by helping regulate appetite, blood sugar, and metabolism. Patients often lose significant weight, but they may also see improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar control, inflammation, and other risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Now, one of the landmark studies called the SELECT trial showed that semaglutide reduced major cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients who were overweight and who already had heart disease, even if they did not have diabetes.

So as a result, the FDA has now approved Wegovy, which is a semaglutide, to reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events in adults with established heart disease who are overweight.

Now, this is a really big deal because for years, we mostly treated obesity as a lifestyle issue. But obesity is also a biological and metabolic disease, and it is closely tied to heart disease.