Curie Brief
Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
News
A new analysis of the SELECT trial finds that Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg) delivers consistent cardiovascular benefits across all frailty levels. Surprisingly, the most frail patients saw the greatest quality-of-life improvements and were actually less likely to stop the drug due to side effects. The findings could help ease clinician hesitancy about prescribing GLP-1s to frailer, older patients.
A new analysis of the landmark SELECT trial, published in JAMA Cardiology, offers reassuring news for clinicians who've been on the fence about prescribing Wegovy to frailer patients. The study found that semaglutide 2.4 mg consistently reduced major cardiovascular events — including CV death, nonfatal MI, and nonfatal stroke — compared to placebo, regardless of how frail a patient was.
What surprised researchers: the most frail patients actually got more out of the drug. They showed the greatest improvements in quality of life (including mobility) and were less likely to discontinue semaglutide due to adverse events compared to their less frail counterparts.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Frailty has long made clinicians hesitant to prescribe GLP-1 receptor agonists, fearing the benefit-risk balance might tip unfavorably. This analysis suggests those concerns may be overstated — and that withholding treatment from frail patients could mean denying them meaningful benefit. That said, researchers caution these are secondary trial findings, and further studies in older adults and those with physical frailty phenotypes are still needed.
