Being overweight raises the risk of heart problems by causing fatty deposits, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
New research has revealed that weight loss injections, widely known for helping people shed pounds, may also provide significant benefits for heart health, even beyond the effects of weight reduction.
The study, led by University College London researchers and published in the Lancet journal, focused on semaglutide, a weekly injection commonly prescribed to support weight loss. The research suggests that the drug may reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, regardless of how much fat individuals lose while taking it.
Being overweight can greatly increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. Excess weight can lead to fatty deposits in the arteries, raising the likelihood of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
However, UCL researchers propose that weight-loss drugs may protect the heart through mechanisms that are not solely related to losing fat.
The study analysed data from 17,604 adults aged 45 and older who were overweight and had existing cardiovascular disease but did not have diabetes.
Participants were spread across 41 countries, with half receiving weekly injections of semaglutide and the other half given a placebo.
Previous analysis of the trial data found that semaglutide reduced the risk of major adverse cardiac events by around 20 per cent. The new findings confirm that this benefit occurs irrespective of the amount of weight lost.
People with a body mass index of 27 experienced similar heart benefits to those with higher obesity-level BMIs. The results were largely consistent even in the first four months of treatment, when weight loss varied among participants.
Prof John Deanfield, lead author from UCL’s Institute of Cardiovascular Science, explained: “Abdominal fat is more dangerous for our cardiovascular health than overall weight and therefore it is not surprising to see a link between reduction in waist size and cardiovascular benefit.
“However, this still leaves two-thirds of the heart benefits of semaglutide unexplained. These findings reframe what we think this medication is doing.
“It is labelled as a weight-loss jab but its benefits for the heart are not directly related to the amount of weight lost – in fact, it is a drug that directly affects heart disease and other diseases of ageing.”
He added: “This work has implications for how semaglutide is used in clinical practice. You don’t have to lose a lot of weight and you don’t need a high BMI to gain cardiovascular benefit.
“If your aim is to reduce cardiovascular disease, restricting its use to a limited time only and for those with the highest BMIs doesn’t make sense.
“At the same time, the benefits need to be weighed against potential side-effects. Investigations of side-effects become especially important given the broad range of people this medicine and others like it could help.”
Although the current research focuses on semaglutide, experts believe the findings may extend to other weight-loss drugs that mimic GLP-1, a natural hormone involved in regulating blood sugar, appetite, and digestion.
These medications could support cardiovascular health by strengthening the lining of blood vessels, reducing inflammation, and improving blood pressure and cholesterol levels, potentially offering protection against age-related diseases beyond weight loss.
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