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weight loss Jabs can help prevent heart attacks and stroke – no matter how much fat people lose while taking the drug.
Being overweight can significantly increase the risk. heart problemsExcess weight can cause fatty deposits to build up in the arteries – increasing the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease,
But researchers in a study led by University College London (UCL) suggest there are several ways Weight loss medications are beneficial Hearts that aren’t just caused by losing fat.
Experts set out to investigate the additional benefits of semaglutide, its main ingredient Vegs And also the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic.
“It is labeled as a weight-loss drug, but its benefits for the heart are not directly related to the amount of weight loss – in fact, it is a drug that directly affects heart disease and other diseases of ageing,” said lead author Professor John Deanfield, from UCL’s Institute of Cardiovascular Science.
The study, published in the journal Lancet and funded by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, looked at data from 17,604 people aged 45 and older who were overweight and had cardiovascular disease, but not diabetes.
Half of the participants in the study – which spanned 41 countries – were given weekly injections of semaglutide and the other half were given a placebo.
A previous analysis of data found that semaglutide reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 20 percent.
Now researchers have confirmed that no matter how much weight people lost while taking the drug, the benefits were clear.
Overweight people with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 got the same benefits as people with the highest BMI scores in the obese category. Also, the benefits were mostly independent of how much weight people lost in the first four months of treatment.
However, the researchers found an association between a shrinking waistline and heart benefits, as measured by waist circumference, accounting for one-third of the drug’s protective effect on the heart after two years.
Professor Deanfield said, “Belly fat is more dangerous to our cardiovascular health than total weight and so it is not surprising to see an association between waist size reduction and cardiovascular benefits. However, this still obscures two thirds of semaglutide’s cardiovascular benefits.”
“This work has implications for how semaglutide is used in clinical practice.”
“You don’t need to lose a lot of weight and you don’t need to have a high BMI to get cardiovascular benefits,” he said.
“If your aim is to reduce heart disease, it is not appropriate to limit its use to only limited periods of time and to those with the highest BMI.
“At the same time, the benefits need to be weighed against the potential side effects. Investigation of side effects becomes especially important, as this drug and others like it may help.”
Although the findings focus on semaglutide, they are likely to apply to other weight-loss drugs that mimic GLP-1, the natural hormone that regulates blood sugar, appetite and digestion.
Researchers say these types of drugs may support the health of the lining of blood vessels, reduce inflammation, improve blood pressure and cholesterol.
Commenting on the study, Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine Naveed Sattar suggested that weight loss jabs could have an effect on tissues that slows the growth of plaque that causes heart disease.
“This is consistent with what we have learned from other trials of GLP-1RAs in people with diabetes, where similar benefits for weight loss were seen,” Professor Sattar said. Independent,
“This means that these drugs help people lose weight and have direct benefits independent of weight loss on the heart, sugar levels and potentially the kidneys. Therefore, they are being increasingly adopted in many specialties, including cardiology.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director and consultant cardiologist at the British Heart Foundation, said: “These interesting results show that the benefits of medicines like semaglutide on heart health go beyond just weight loss.
“But this leaves a lot unclear. More research will be needed to unravel other mechanisms of action behind the cardiovascular benefits beyond weight and fat loss, such as improving blood vessel health, control of blood pressure and blood sugar, or inflammation.
“Although this is a very large study that has followed patients over a long period of time, we cannot yet know the potential impact of continued use of such drugs, especially in heart patients who are not living with overweight and obesity.”
The NHS in England is giving weight loss supplements to 240,000 people most in need over the next three years.