- Semaglutide, marketed as Ozempic or Wegovy, helps those suffering from HFpEF
Weight loss injections can help ease the symptoms of fatal heart failure, offering hope to half a million Britons.
One trial found that semaglutide, known under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, helped women lose more weight than men, but provided the same benefits to members of both sexes who suffer from a common type of heart failure.
Experts said it suggests it could be addressing an underlying mechanism of heart failure, in addition to patients’ weight loss benefits.
The analysis is the first to look at the effects of the injection in men and women separately in relation to preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), where the heart pumps normally but is too stiff to fill properly.
The study involving 1,145 patients analyzed the effects of a weekly injection of 2.4 mg over a year.
Semaglutide, sometimes marketed as Ozempic, helps women lose more weight than men, but may help relieve symptoms of preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Women lost more weight, losing an average of 9.6 percent of their body weight compared to 7.2 percent for men. But the injections were found to improve heart failure symptoms, such as shortness of breath, fatigue and swelling in the legs and feet, in both sexes.
Patients were also able to exercise more and had reduced levels of inflammation.
The new analysis, reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, comes after the injections were found to significantly reduce people’s chances of having a heart attack and stroke.
A new analysis found the drug is effective in reducing people’s chances of having a heart attack and stroke (file photo)
The findings presented at the European Congress on Obesity last month in Venice were touted as the most significant advance in heart disease since the introduction of statins with the use of drugs intended to “change clinical practice.” HFpEF affects around half a million people in the UK.
The annual mortality rate is 10 to 15 percent and patients are typically hospitalized about once a year. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation and consultant cardiologist, has previously spoken of the “exciting” potential of this class of drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists.
She said: ‘For some people, living with heart failure can make everyday activities difficult or even impossible.
“These types of improvements, like being able to walk more, could have a transformative impact on someone’s life.”