The Science

Section

Outcomes

4 pages in this section, most recently updated September 4, 2026. Each opens with a plain-English summary and cites its sources.

  1. 01 · Outcomes

    Featured

    Cardiovascular outcomes: what SELECT proved and what it left open

    You'll get: SELECT followed 17,604 adults with heart disease and extra weight, but no diabetes, for over three years.

    What the SELECT trial found: 20 percent fewer heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths on semaglutide, and why no one can yet say how it did that.

    Updated September 4, 2026
    Paper-cut illustration of a syringe with plain tick marks beside a slide rule and a ruler

  2. 02 · Outcomes

    Featured

    Kidney outcomes: FLOW and the indirect route to the nephron

    You'll get: FLOW tested semaglutide in 3,533 adults with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease for about three years.

    What the FLOW trial found in people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, and why the kidney benefit must come from indirect effects.

    Updated September 4, 2026

  3. 03 · Outcomes

    Sleep apnea: SURMOUNT-OSA and the mechanics of a collapsing airway

    You'll get: Extra weight narrows the airway in the throat, so it collapses more often during sleep.

    Why extra weight narrows the airway, what tirzepatide did to breathing pauses in two one-year trials, and the first FDA approval of a drug for sleep apnea.

    Updated September 4, 2026

  4. 04 · Outcomes

    Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: STEP-HFpEF and the obese phenotype

    You'll get: This trial treated a kind of heart failure where the heart pumps fine but cannot fill well, common in people with obesity.

    Why obesity produces a distinct form of heart failure, what STEP-HFpEF measured (symptoms, walking distance, weight, inflammation), how big the changes were, and what the trial cannot say about mechanism or hard outcomes.

    Updated September 4, 2026