Wegovy for Heart Health: What the Latest Trials Mean
Wegovy for Heart Health: What the Latest Trials Mean
While Wegovy has been shown to work wonders for weight loss, clinical trials have also shown that it can also improve your heart health and even reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) like heart attacks and strokes.
Due to this, it's now the first weight loss medication to be approved for people diagnosed with heart disease as well as weight loss. In this article, we’ll take you through the current research and tell you everything you need to know about Wegovy’s effects on your heart.
Three key takeaways:
The SELECT trial showed that Wegovy reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular events by 20% when compared to Mounjaro.
These benefits aren’t just from weight loss. GLP-1s also help by reducing inflammation and improving blood vessel health.
Wegovy also supports heart health by reducing the build-up of fat around the heart.
What did the SELECT trial show?
The SELECT trial showed that people on Wegovy were 20% less likely to have serious risks to heart health, like heart attacks and strokes, than those on a placebo.
were randomly selected to receive either Wegovy or placebo
One key finding was that heart health in patients didn’t improve solely because they lost weight. In fact, the trial showed that Wegovy’s heart health benefits went beyond weight loss and didn’t depend on the participant's starting weight or how much weight they lost.
Any form of weight loss is likely to improve your heart health, but Wegovy was shown to improve heart health even in people who didn’t lose much weight. This suggests the medication may directly benefit the heart and could be used for heart health in the future.
How does Wegovy support heart health?
Wegovy supports heart health by reducing the build-up of fat around the heart and blood vessels. This helps:
The weight loss that Wegovy causes also improves your heart health, as any reduction in obesity also reduces your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
As well as this, the weight loss from Wegovy contributes to reducing the risk of other conditions like type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnoea, improving your quality of life.
What does this mean for patients in the UK?
In the UK, Wegovy was mainly prescribed for weight loss, but it’s now also approved to help protect heart health and lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in people with heart disease who have a BMI of 27 or above.
This makes it the first weight loss medication approved by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) specifically to reduce the risk of heart disease in people living with excess weight.
Wegovy vs other GLP-1 medications for heart health
Wegovy has been proven to be better for heart health than other GLP-1 medications in multiple studies:
STEER was a real-world study that looked at the effectiveness of Wegovy against tirzepatide (Mounjaro) in reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events. In it, Wegovy was shown to be 57% more effective than tirzepatide at treating heart attacks.
The SELECT-6 study looked at how semaglutide (the main ingredient in Wegovy) affects heart health in people with diabetes. It found that people with type 2 diabetes and a high risk of heart problems were less likely to have a heart attack or stroke when taking Wegovy compared to a placebo.
Who might benefit most from Wegovy’s positive effects on the heart?
People living with obesity, who also have a cardiovascular disease diagnosis or are at risk for type 2 diabetes, might benefit most from Wegovy’s positive effects on the heart. This is because it will not only help them lose weight, benefiting their heart health, but also reduce their risk of heart issues like heart attacks and strokes.
“The people who could really benefit from Wegovy's heart effects are those who've been worried about their cardiovascular health for a while - perhaps they've had a scare or have a family history that keeps them up at night. It's not just about the numbers on the scale anymore, which is brilliant.
I've spoken with patients who are frustrated because they're doing everything 'right' but still have concerning cholesterol or blood pressure. For them, knowing that Wegovy works on inflammation and blood flow directly, not just through weight loss, is quite reassuring.
The interesting bit is that even people who don't shift massive amounts of weight are still seeing these protective effects. So, if you're someone juggling multiple risk factors - maybe you're carrying extra weight, your GP's mentioned prediabetes, and heart disease runs in your family - this could be worth exploring.”
Does Wegovy protect the heart even if I don’t lose weight?
Yes. Wegovy helps protect the heart even if you don’t lose weight because of the effects that GLP-1 agonists in the medicine have on inflammation and cholesterol.
Can Wegovy help prevent heart attacks?
Wegovy might not prevent heart attacks, but it can reduce the risk of heart attacks in those with cardiovascular disease by 57%. Additionally, it reduced risk by 29% in all people on the treatment, regardless of whether or not they have obesity.
How does Wegovy compare to statins or other heart drugs?
In the SELECT trial, most participants were already on statins and other heart medications, so Wegovy is viewed as extra protection against major cardiovascular events.
Will my doctor prescribe Wegovy for heart health alone?
No. Your doctor is not currently able to prescribe Wegovy for heart health alone. You also need to have a BMI of 27 or higher to get a prescription.
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