November 16, 2023 — It was an amazing moment. Hundreds upon hundreds people packed into huge convention hall to hear about the detailed outcomes of the first ever randomized controlled trial to show that treating obesity could prevent heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths. The implications of the SELECT trial for obesity care will be enormous and we had […]
November 12, 2023 — For some time to come, we will be learning more and more about the details and implications of the landmark SELECT study published yesterday in NEJM and presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia. A massive crowd packed the meeting hall yesterday for good reason. These results will change the practice of […]
November 11, 2023 — Newly published in full, the results of the SELECT study of semaglutide for cardiovascular outcomes in persons with obesity but not diabetes makes one thing undeniable. Obesity is a chronic, treatable disease. Treating obesity requires more than just telling a person to change their lifestyle. It involves addressing the disease pathology that is at work, […]
November 11, 2023 — It has long been a struggle – one of confronting the biological reality of obesity while claiming autonomy and embracing our own identity. Having our eyes wide open about obesity and health while we tell people who want to impose their judgments on us to buzz off. This is my body and my life. Puritans […]
August 21, 2023 — How much might the application of new insights from the SELECT study of treating obesity do for preventing heart attacks, strokes, and deaths. A first pass at answering this question appeared in Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy last week. Nathan Wong, Hridhay Karthikeyan, and Wenjun Fan estimated the potential for semaglutide treatment to lower cardiovascular disease […]
August 13, 2023 — Subtly buried in the excitement about results of the SELECT trial is an issue of disparities. The fact is that this is largely a study of White males. Less than four percent of persons in this study were Black, ten percent were Hispanic, and 76 percent were non-Hispanic White. Males comprised 72 percent of the […]
August 11, 2023 — Calm in the midst of a storm is always odd. Has it passed? Or is there more to come? Bedlam pretty much defines the market for obesity care right now. Both Novo Nordisk and Lilly announced robust business results on the strength of impressive new options for treating obesity. Novo released stunning topline results for […]
August 9, 2023 — Yesterday brought us one of the most curious mashups of news we’ve seen in a while. On one hand we have stories about employers and insurance companies conspiring to deny obesity care to their employees and customers; on the other we have the news that the drug they don’t want to cover actually prevents deaths […]
August 8, 2023 — No two ways about it. This is huge. The topline results of the SELECT trial of cardiovascular outcomes with semaglutide in obesity are out and unequivocal. Semaglutide cuts deaths and cardiovascular (CV) events in people with overweight and obesity. An important detail in the announcement of these results regards the three components of the primary […]
July 8, 2023 — It’s coming. Sometime before September we will be hearing about the results of the SELECT outcomes study of semaglutide in people with obesity and we may as well start getting ready to argue about it now. Because value is in the eye of the beholder. And this study is all about the long-term health value […]
