Ozempic ‘s heart benefits could extend to helping overweight people who have heart failure prevent heart attacks and strokes, new research has suggested. Previous research showed people with heart disease who are obese or overweight could benefit from taking the weight loss drug semaglutide, which is sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic . However, there were fears the drug might be harmful to those with a certain type of heart failure.
Now a new study suggests that, within the group that had heart disease, semaglutide worked just as well for people with heart failure as it did for those without it. The previous research from the same team found that weekly injections of the drug were linked to a 20 per cent drop in major adverse cardiac events (Mace) such as heart attacks and strokes for obese or overweight people who had cardiovascular disease. According to the fresh findings, taking the weight loss drug was also linked to a reduction in all-causes death in people with heart failure.
Experts say this suggests the drug may have the potential for other, as yet unknown, benefits. Lead author Professor John Deanfield, of the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, said: “Our previous Select (Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes trial) analysis showed the benefits of semaglutide for people with cardiovascular disease who had obesity or were overweight, “This new study finds that, within this group, people with heart failure did just as well as people without in.