Analysis shows losing belly fat is key to better heart health.
WEIGHT loss jabs could reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke regardless of how many pounds a person loses, research suggests.
Analysis shows losing belly fat is key to better heart health, rather than overall weight loss, which can include loss of muscle mass.
Scientists said limiting the appetite suppressant semaglutide to only the most severely obese people does not make sense.
Lead author Prof John Deanfield, of University College London, said abdominal fat is more dangerous for our cardiovascular health than overall weight and called for a rethink about how semaglutide – brand names Wegovy for obesity and Ozempic for diabetes – is used. He said: “Its benefits for the heart are not directly related to the amount of weight lost. In fact, it’s a drug that directly affects heart disease and other diseases of ageing.”
The study examined 17,604 semaglutide users from 41 countries, who were at least 45 and overweight or obese.
Previous analysis found semaglutide cut the risk of major adverse cardiac events by 20%. Now researchers say the benefit was apparent regardless of how much weight people lost on the drug.
People with a body mass index of 27, the UK adult average, had similar benefits as those who had the highest BMI scores. It is thought heart benefits could be due to other effects of the drug such as reducing inflammation in the body.
Prof Deanfield said: “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.
“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.”
