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FDA Approves Treatment for Serious Liver Disease Known as ‘MASH’
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Wegovy (semaglutide) injection to treat metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in adults with moderate-to-advanced fibrosis (excessive scar tissue in the liver). MASH, also known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, is a serious liver disease. Wegovy, which was first approved in 2017, is also approved for obesity or overweight and to reduce cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, in individuals at high risk of these events. Approximately 6% of U.S. adults (14.9 million people) have MASH, and its prevalence is expanding.
The most common side effects of Wegovy include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, dyspepsia (indigestion), dizziness, abdominal distension, eructation (burping), hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, flatulence, gastroenteritis (stomach flu), gastroesophageal reflux disease, and nasopharyngitis (common cold). People with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer; with multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 2; or with a known sensitivity to semaglutide or Wegovy excipients should not take this drug.
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