But we are still learning about some of their other effects. On the one hand, these seemingly miraculous drugs appear to improve health in other ways, helping to protect against heart failure, kidney disease, and potentially even substance-use disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. This week let’s take a look at what weight-loss drugs can do. Ozempic, Wegovy, and other similar drugs are known as GLP-1 agonists; they mimic a chemical made in the intestine, GLP-1, that increases insulin and lowers blood levels of glucose. In 2024, an enormous study that included 17,604 people in 41 countries found that semaglutide appeared to reduce heart failure in people who were overweight or obese and had cardiovascular disease.