Injections for losing weight can aid in preventing heart attacks and strokes.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of fatalities worldwide. However, semaglutide—an injectable drug used to curb weight gain—could potentially shield the heart from harm, regardless of one's weight or the degree to which it changes.
A study released by a team from University College London delves deeper into the use of semaglutide for weight loss. Despite its role in managing obesity, semaglutide has additional benefits: it lowers the risk of stroke or heart attack for individuals without diabetes. The researchers found this surprising outcome regardless of the initial weight or the volume of weight shed while using semaglutide treatment.
The study's findings were derived from the SUSTAIN 6 trial, backed by drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk. It encompassed 17,604 individuals aged 45 and beyond from 41 nations, all of whom had a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or higher initially and also had a history of cardiovascular disease. These participants did not have types 1 or 2 diabetes and received weekly 2.4 mg doses of semaglutide or a placebo for an extended period.
The analysis found that among the semaglutide group of 8,803 patients, 569 (6.5%) experienced a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack. This was a significant improvement over the 8% of the 8,801 participants from the placebo group who suffered a similar fate. After the term of 48 months, it was evident that semaglutide provided cardiovascular protection beyond simply aiding in weight loss.
"A Game-Changer"
John Deanfield, the study's head researcher and the director of the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research, told The Guardian that this drug is an "absolute game-changer." The cardiovascular benefits of semaglutide are indeed quite remarkable, he suggests. "Semaglutide, like statins in the 1990s, might be seen as groundbreaking in improving cardiovascular health," Deanfield explains. "We now have a class of drugs that could revolutionize many age-related chronic diseases."
Semaglutide is a prescribed medication that curbs one's appetite in order to help combat obesity. It goes by the brand names Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus; it has been available in Europe since 2018 and has been recognized as a lifestyle drug by the Federal Joint Committee in Germany since 2024. Consequently, health insurance funds in Germany no longer provide coverage for it.
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- Semaglutide, a medication used for weight loss, has shown to lower the risk of stroke or heart attack, even for individuals without diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers at University College London.
- Heart disease experts have hailed semaglutide as a "game-changer" in improving cardiovascular health, as its cardiovascular benefits have been found to be remarkable, like how statins were in the 1990s.
- Regularly, healthcare systems and insurance providers scrutinize the use of weight loss medications as lifestyle drugs, but despite being recognized as such, semaglutide has been removed from coverage by health insurance funds in Germany since 2024.
Source: www.ntv.de
