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The weight-loss drug Wegovy reduces the chance of experiencing or dying from occasions like coronary heart assaults and strokes by 20 % in individuals with weight problems and preexisting coronary heart illness, in keeping with outcomes from a late-stage scientific trial revealed in The New England Journal of Drugs.
For the examine, scientists randomly assigned 17,604 individuals with weight problems and coronary heart illness to obtain weekly injections, of both a 2.4 milligram dose of Wegovy or a placebo, for nearly three years on common. By the tip of the examine, 579 individuals on Wegovy died of cardiovascular causes or skilled issues like coronary heart failure, coronary heart assaults, and strokes, in contrast with 701 individuals within the placebo group — that means Wegovy decreased this danger by 20 %.
“That is the primary weight administration remedy to indicate that it may possibly scale back this danger on high of the entire different therapies sufferers take for heart problems,” says lead examine creator A. Michael Lincoff, MD, of the division of cardiovascular medication on the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Wegovy, like the kind 2 diabetes drug Ozempic, comprises the lively ingredient semaglutide. These medicine are in a household of medicines generally known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, which work by mimicking the motion of a hormone that makes individuals really feel full.
Most sufferers within the examine have been taking aspirin in addition to medicine generally known as statins, Lincoff says. Each of those medicines might help scale back the chance of coronary heart assaults and strokes.
Wegovy Does Greater than Help in Weight Loss
With Wegovy, individuals misplaced a mean of 9.4 % of their physique weight by the tip of the examine. Nevertheless, researchers noticed enhancements in a number of markers of cardiovascular danger like blood strain, blood sugar, and irritation quickly after members began taking the drug.
This means that the advantages of Wegovy come from each weight reduction and from results of the drug which are impartial of how a lot weight individuals lose, says Robert Kushner, MD, a professor and director of the Heart for Life-style Drugs on the Northwestern Feinberg Faculty of Drugs who wasn’t concerned within the new examine.
“We all know that weight reduction improves a number of cardiovascular danger components, comparable to hypertension, elevated blood sugar, and irregular blood fat,” Dr. Kushner says. “As well as, semaglutide has weight impartial results comparable to decreased irritation within the physique, improved vascular tone and kidney operate. The mix of those results yields decreased cardiovascular occasions.”
One limitation of the examine is that it solely included individuals with preexisting heart problems. Meaning the outcomes can’t clarify whether or not Wegovy would possibly stop occasions like coronary heart assaults or strokes in individuals with none historical past of heart problems.
“Wegovy is especially beneficial for sufferers with obese and weight problems with earlier historical past of heart problems, however that doesn’t indicate that it’s beneficial for major prevention of heart problems,” says Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD, medical director of the weight problems scientific program at Joslin Diabetes Heart and an affiliate professor at Harvard Medical Faculty in Boston.
It will take an extended trial that features sufferers with and with no historical past of heart problems to find out whether or not Wegovy would possibly play a job in stopping this situation, says Dr. Hamdy, who wasn’t concerned within the new examine.
FDA Contemplating Approving Wegovy to Decrease Coronary heart Illness Dangers
It’s additionally not clear from the examine outcomes whether or not Wegovy can be useful for stopping coronary heart issues in individuals with out obese, weight problems, or diabetes. Presently the drug is simply accredited for kind 2 diabetes, or for individuals with obese or weight problems.
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing an added approval for Wegovy as remedy for lowering the chance of heart problems, and will challenge a call inside six months, CNBC reported on November 2.
One other unanswered query from the examine is whether or not sufferers with weight problems and heart problems would possibly get coronary heart well being advantages from one other GLP-1 drug, Zepbound, which simply received FDA approval for continual weight administration.
Zepbound, like the kind 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro, comprises the lively ingredient tirzepatide. These medicine containing tirzepatide goal two hormones — glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) — which are concerned in sustaining wholesome blood sugar ranges and sending alerts of satiety from the intestine to the mind.
“I anticipate the cardiovascular outcomes to be extra spectacular with the mixed GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonists, not solely due to the upper magnitude of weight reduction by tirzepatide, but in addition as a result of GIP receptor agonist has a potent impact on lipid profile,” Hamdy says, referring to levels of cholesterol. Analysis is underway to evaluate the cardiovascular advantages of Zepbound, Hamdy provides.
“Proper now, we now have knowledge to help the advantage of Wegovy in sufferers with weight problems and former historical past of heart problems, which is but to be confirmed in response to Zepbound,” Hamdy says.
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