It is not focused on weight necessarily
For type 2 diabetes, NICE (NG28) recommends continuing GLP-1 therapy only if patients achieve both a reduction in HbA1c of at least 11 mmol/mol (1.0%) AND at least 3% weight loss after 6 months
First of all, it is widely recognized that T2DM is a risk factor for developing several types of cancer, mainly colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and endometrial cancer (Ling et al., 2023)
In the larger SELECT trial in 2023, patients with heart failure, atherosclerotic disease, and overweight or obesity, treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg showed reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and heart failure end points regardless of heart failure subgroup being HFrEF or HFpEF [56,57,58]
"Obesity is a chronic condition and thus requires long-term treatment," says Shalev, who believes the field is moving toward a two-step approach: using a GLP-1 to achieve weight loss, followed by a different medication to help maintain it