What the trial was testing
The SELECT enrolled 17,604 patients with obesity. The study was sponsored by Novo Nordisk and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
20% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death.
New England Journal of Medicine · 2023 · NCT03574597
These findings — that of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death in overweight adults with heart disease — were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 17,604 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with obesity, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Semaglutide (Wegovy) is FDA-approved both for chronic weight management and to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in adults with overweight or obesity and existing heart disease. The most common side effects are nausea and stomach upset that ease over time. Ask your doctor or cardiologist whether you qualify.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open obesity trials
Xanthigen and Its Impact on Weight and Metabolic Health
Randomized, controlled, triple-blind clinical trial with three parallel arms based on the product consumed (low-dose experimental product, high-dose experimental product, and placebo product) and conducted at a single center to measure the efficacy of a product (Xanthigen®) on overweight or obesity during 16 weeks of consumption.
Healthy Mom Zone Gestational Weight Gain Management Intervention 2.0
The goal of this clinical trial is to see if the enhanced HMZ 2.0 intervention with new control system/digital platform to regulate gestational weight gain (GWG) and impact maternal-infant outcomes while collecting implementation data works and can be given to other pregnant women in various settings. The question this study aims to answer are: 1. Does the new intervention manage GWG? 2. Does the new intervention have any influence on sleep and eating behaviors and infant outcomes. 3. Does the new platform and other data collected help inform how well the research and information can be used in health care settings? 144 pregnant women with overweight/obesity will be randomized to either the HMZ 2.0 intervention or attention control groups from \~8-36 weeks gestation. All participants will be asked to: 1. Weight themselves and wear an activity monitor each day over the study. 2. Complete online surveys at either a weekly or monthly level about their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors on GWG, physical activity, eating behaviors, sleep, their anxiety, depression, and stress. 3. Attend weekly sessions with a registered dietician. The weekly sessions will differ based on intervention group. The HMZ 2.0 intervention group will receive education, create and follow goal-setting and action plans, self-monitor their behaviors, and receive feature evidence and fetal growth facts. Education, goals, and self-monitoring will focus on GWG, physical activity, eating behaviors, sleep, self-regulating behaviors and emotions, and preparing for labor/delivery and postpartum. The attention control group will receive weekly sessions on preparing for labor/delivery and benefits of behavioral pain management strategies (e.g., mindfulness-based relaxation, imagery, music, massage, deep-breathing) to help with pain after childbirth without medicine.