Semaglutide, the ingredient in vaccines such as Ozempic and its fat-burning cousin Wegovy, can reduce the risk of heart failure events and cardiovascular death by almost a third, research suggests.
Australian and international researchers analysed health data from patients with diabetes who received the vaccine during one of their earlier clinical trials.
They found that those who took semaglutide in the experiment may have up to a 27 percent lower risk of heart failure and a 29 percent lower risk of death.
He The authors say this indicates how the drug may be working to benefit people with obesity-related heart failure.
The results are the latest to find that semaglutide may have benefits for heart health.
Researchers found that those taking semaglutide in the experiment may have up to a 27 percent lower risk of heart failure and a 29 percent lower risk of death.
This comes after UK drug chiefs approved the use of semaglutide to prevent heart attacks and strokes in overweight patients earlier this year.
The move comes after scientists hailed the results of a trial earlier this year that showed patients taking the drugs cut their chances of suffering from such health problems by up to a fifth and called for their wider use.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK’s regulator, said at the time that weekly injections should now be offered to overweight and obese adults with cardiovascular disease as a “preventative treatment”.
It could open the door for millions more Britons to receive fat-blasting vaccines.
The expansion of the conditions for which semaglutide can be prescribed in Britain only applies to Wegovy, the formulation of the drug for patients who want to lose weight, rather than Ozempic, which remains specific to diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease is responsible for around a quarter of all deaths in the UK, equivalent to 170,000 deaths a year or 480 every day.
The MHRA said conditions for receiving Wegovy in these circumstances include having a body mass index of 27 or more, a reading that means someone is overweight, and established cardiovascular disease.
Currently, people in the UK can only get Wegovy through the NHS if they have at least a BMI of 30 and a health condition related to their weight, such as high blood pressure.
The MHRA’s decision does not mean that the NHS will prescribe Wegovy on this new basis immediately.
An independent body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is due to assess whether the use of Wegovy is value for money for taxpayers’ money.
NICE told MailOnline that it hopes to publish the results of that assessment next summer.
Ozempic and Wegovy are injections that mimic hormones and trick the body into feeling full, helping people lose weight.
Losing weight already helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, however, the clinically observed risk reduction was also evident among patients who did not lose weight.
This suggests that the drugs target an underlying biological mechanism that reduces the risk of such events.
Doctors believe this could be due to mechanisms such as improvements in blood sugar, blood pressure or inflammation, as well as direct effects on the heart muscle and blood vessels.
Wegovy and Ozempic work by stimulating the body to produce a hormone called GLP-1 that is naturally released from the intestines after meals.
While semaglutide-based drugs have been linked to a number of benefits, they, like any drug, have side effects that vary in severity and frequency.
The most common are gastrointestinal disorders, such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting.
But other, stranger symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported in some patients.
British ministers had previously planned to distribute the drug to millions of overweight Britons to cut both the country’s bloated benefits bill from sick Britons taking time off work and the rising cost to the NHS of treating excess fat.
Although hormone-mimicking injections are designed to help overweight patients become healthier, there has also been growing concern about the number of normal-weight and underweight patients taking them for cosmetic reasons.
Some have even needed emergency room care after receiving vaccines in an attempt to get a “beach-ready” body.
Young women in particular are believed to be obtaining Wegovy through online pharmacies, which offer it for between £150 and £200 ($200-$250) a month, after providing false information about their appearance and health.
In some cases, people who get vaccinated without a legitimate medical reason are thought to be doing so as a result of eating disorders.
Rising global demand for vaccines, even among those receiving them for cosmetic reasons, has meant that some diabetes patients are struggling to access supplies.
It has also led pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, to enjoy a huge boom in profits.
Earlier this year, the Danish company revealed it was making £32m a day as countries struggling with the financial toll of obesity struggle to get their hands on vaccines.
Analysis suggests combined sales of the company’s Ozempic and Wegovy brands generated £20.5bn this year.