Jab For Weight Loss “May Lower Risk Of Heart Attack”

According to a new study, an injectable intended to combat obesity may lower a person’s risk of heart attacks and strokes regardless of how much weight they lose while using the medication.

The effects of semaglutide, a prescription medication that suppresses appetite and is marketed under the brands Rybelsus, Ozempic, and Wegovy, were examined by researchers.

Millions more individuals’ cardiovascular health could also benefit from the anti-obesity injections, according to their claims.

Prof. John Deanfield, who oversaw the research team, stated that in addition to having direct effects on the heart muscle and vessels, the generic medication may also positively affect blood pressure, blood sugar, or inflammation.

The five-year University College London (UCL) study examined 17,604 persons over 45 from 41 nations using data from the Select trial, which was conducted by Novo Nordisk, the maker of semaglutide.

Prof. Deanfield stated that the results had “important clinical implications” prior to presenting the work at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice.

He compared the discovery to the introduction of statins in the 1990s and said it was a significant one.

“After much research, we discovered a class of drugs that could alter the biology of this illness to the great advantage of many.” That was a significant discovery that revolutionized the field of cardiology.

“We now have this class of drugs which could equally transform many chronic diseases of ageing.”

In his examination of Select, Prof. Deanfield looked at how long it took for patients to experience significant cardiovascular events, such heart attacks or strokes, or whether they eventually developed heart failure.

Compared to 10% in the placebo group, 62% of patients had dropped more than 5% of their bodyweight after 20 weeks on semaglutide.

However, patients who dropped more than 5% of their bodyweight and those who lost less than 5% or gained weight experienced equivalent reductions in their risk of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure.

Professor Deanfield stated: “Around half of the patients that I see in my cardiovascular practice have levels of weight equivalent to those in the Select trial and are likely to derive benefit from taking semaglutide on top of their usual level of guideline-directed care.”

Prof. Deanfield stated that the medication has a “potentially important place” in the treatment of obesity in his interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program.

“There are many people living overweight or with obesity, who have struggled to improve their weight, and these drugs, for that reason alone, produce an important clinical opportunity,” he said.

“But these are drugs that will also improve their background medical problems. That really is quite exciting”.

Semaglutide decreased the risk of a heart attack or stroke in obese individuals with cardiovascular disease by a fifth, according to studies conducted in August as part of the Select study.

Two papers, including Prof. Deanfield’s, are being presented at the ECO in Italy and are based on the Select experiment.

The second study examined the long-term impact of semaglutide on weight and was headed by Professor Donna Ryan of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans.

The same chemical in Ozempic, the diabetic medication rumored to be Hollywood’s “skinny jab” of choice, is also present in Wegovy.

Experts have cautioned that it should only be used under medical supervision and that it is neither a rapid cure nor a substitute for a healthy diet and regular exercise.