DAILY fat jab pills could slash the risk of deadly heart issues by a fifth, scientists say.
Trials have already shown that the tablets which contain semaglutide – the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic – can already help patients shed up to 15 per cent of their body weight.
Now, US researchers, who tracked almost 10,000 adults, found the pill also lowered the risk of heart failure by 22 per cent.
Patients also saw their risk of suffering a major cardiovascular events fall by 14 per cent, compared with people taking dummy pills.
The drug, dubbed the Wegovy pill, is already being rolled out in parts of the US and is expected to hit the UK market later this year.
Previous research has also suggested that fat jabs containing semaglutide, could cut heart attack or stroke risk by 20 per cent – regardless of whether patients lost weight.
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The scientists at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, said they could not explain exactly why the pill had such a beneficial effect on heart health.
But experts have previously hypothesised that the drugs can improve blood sugar levels and lower inflammation.
Lowering body weight – which reduces the strain on the heart – can also directly improving blood vessel function and reduce cholesterol.
Writing in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the scientists said: “Heart failure is one of the most prevalent cardiac complications in people with type 2 diabetes.
“Several glucagon-likepeptide-1 receptor agonists [or GLP-1s as they’re known medically] reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events
all-cause mortality, hospital admission for heart failure in people with type 2 diabetes.”
Previous research by the same scientists also found that daily semaglutide pills helped reduce the risk of heart issues in people with diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) – when cholesterol and fats clog up artery walls.
In their new study, the researchers examined whether pills could reduce the risk of heart failure and ASCVD in people, regardless of whether they had a history of heart failure.
The 9,650 participants, aged 50 on average, took either a semaglutide or placebo pill once a day, in addition to any standard treatment they were undergoing.
Those on Ozempic pills took 3mg for four weeks, 7mg for another four weeks and 14mg to the end of the study.
Researchers monitored whether patients experienced heart failure, as well as metrics such as blood sugar, body weight and blood pressure.
“We observed a reduction in the risk of heart failure hospitalisation, urgent heart failure visit or cardiovascular death with oral semaglutide
compared with placebo in participants with heart failure history at baseline, with a notable, not statistically significant difference compared to the group without heart failure history at baseline,” researchers said.
Their analysis showed that, in people who already had heart failure at the start of the study, semaglutide pills lowered the risk of hospitalisation and death from the condition by 22 per cent.
Symptoms of heart failure
The symptoms of heart failure can vary from person to person, developing suddenly or gradually over weeks or months.
The most common symptoms of heart failure are:
- Breathlessness – this may occur after activity or at rest; it may be worse when you’re lying down, and you may wake up at night needing to catch your breath
- Fatigue – you may feel tired most of the time and find exercise exhausting
- Swollen ankles and legs – this is caused by a build-up of fluid; it may be better in the morning and get worse later in the day
- Feeling lightheaded and fainting
Other symptoms of heart failure can include:
- A persistent cough, which may be worse at night
- Wheezing
- A bloated tummy
- Loss of appetite
- Weight gain or weight loss
- Confusion
- A fast heart rate
- A pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
Source: NHS
But there was little difference between semaglutide and placebo pills in people who didn’t have heart failure at the start.
Meanwhile, the pills lowered the risk of major heart-related events – like heart attacks and stroke – by 14 per cent.
There was no major difference between people who did and didn’t have heart failure at the start of the study.
“Given the high prevalence of heart failure in people with type 2 diabetes and in those with obesity, these data provide additional information for clinicians when considering therapy choices and impact on heart failure outcomes in people with or without known heart failure,” researchers concluded.
“These data therefore support the potential role of oral semaglutide in reducing heart failure events in people with type 2 diabetes, ASCVD and/or chronic kidney disease and heart failure.”