NEW ORLEANS — There is some good news for the millions of people on those popular weight loss injections. Doctors are finding the health benefits go beyond shedding pounds. And they are hoping the science changes health insurance coverage.
You have seen the impact the medical weight loss injections have made on the lives of people who have obesity.
"When she came along, I just did not know how I was going to prioritize me, but, not to make her suffer, and this shot gave me exactly that. It makes me tear up. It really does," Ashley Daray said in May about how Wegovy helped her not have to spend so much time in the gym away from her daughter, something that was unsustainable.
Now a new study finds that, along with weight loss, Wegovy injections are giving patients major cardiovascular health benefits. The reduction includes 20 percent fewer heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths.
“This is showing benefits of this medication beyond weight loss, right? Because a lot of people said that these medications are being taken for the purposes of vanity,” said the Medical Director of the Tulane Bariatric and Weight Loss Center, Dr. Shauna Levy.
The 17,000-plus patients in the study did not have diabetes. And those people with just the disease of obesity, don't normally have access to the medication through insurance.
“And so hopefully this will inspire insurance companies, including our government, to cover anti-obesity medication, to improve the health of so many,” she added.
Dr. Levy says that while losing weight alone can yield major heart health benefits, doctors believe that the medication is acting in other ways to help the heart. And she is seeing even more benefits.
“It affects the reward center of your brain, and so you get less pleasure out of doing things like drinking, smoking, shopping, nail biting even.”
She says the health benefits keep coming out in studies.
“And we’re seeing these results again, and again, and again, with these huge number of patients. So, these are game changers and I’m very excited for the future of treating obesity,” said Dr. Levy.
Dr. Levy says in Louisiana, patients are very underinsured when it comes to treating obesity.
She hopes studies like these will improve access to managing obesity to improve health and quality of life.
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