Groundbreaking research suggests that semaglutide, the active ingredient in weight loss medications like Wegovy and Ozempic, can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, irrespective of the amount of weight a patient sheds. This finding marks a crucial advancement in understanding the drug's wider health benefits beyond its primary use in combating obesity.

For years, semaglutide has been celebrated as a monumental breakthrough in the fight against obesity. However, a growing body of evidence has begun to highlight its potential as a life-saving treatment for a spectrum of other conditions, including heart disease, asthma, and even alcohol addiction. A recent major global study, the largest and longest trial investigating the cardiovascular benefits of semaglutide to date, has further solidified these observations. British scientists leading this research discovered that the cardiovascular advantages of semaglutide were evident regardless of the patient's overall weight loss.

The researchers specifically noted that the degree of weight lost early in the treatment period did not serve as a predictor for who would experience fewer heart-related complications. Interestingly, a reduction in waist size, indicative of decreased belly fat, accounted for approximately one-third of semaglutide's overall heart health benefit, effectively cutting the risk of heart attacks and strokes by almost a fifth (14%). These findings imply that the medication possesses broader therapeutic applications and should not be exclusively reserved for patients categorized as severely obese. Experts lauded these findings as "profound" but underscored the necessity for further research to precisely unravel the mechanisms behind these beneficial effects.

Professor John Deanfield, a distinguished expert in cardiology at University College London and the lead author of the study, elaborated on these observations. He stated, "Abdominal fat is more dangerous for our cardiovascular health than overall weight. Therefore, it is not surprising to see a link between reduction in waist size and cardiovascular benefit." He further added, "However, this still leaves two-thirds of the heart benefits of semaglutide unexplained. These findings reframe what we think this medication is doing. It is labelled as a weight loss jab, but its benefits for the heart are not directly related to the amount of weight lost. In fact, it is a drug that directly affects heart disease and other diseases of ageing."

Professor Deanfield highlighted the significant implications for clinical practice, suggesting that patients do not need to achieve substantial weight loss or have a high Body Mass Index (BMI) to derive cardiovascular benefits from semaglutide. He argued that restricting its use to a limited time or only to those with the highest BMIs would be illogical if the primary goal is to mitigate cardiovascular disease. However, he cautioned that these benefits must be carefully weighed against potential side effects, emphasizing that investigations into side effects become particularly critical given the broad demographic that could potentially be helped by this and similar medications.

The extensive global trial encompassed 17,604 patients, all aged at least 45 and classified as either overweight or obese, spanning 41 countries. Participants were divided into two groups: one receiving the highest available weekly dose of semaglutide (2.4mg), and the other a placebo. The study, published in the prestigious journal The Lancet, revealed that patients with a BMI of 27 (the average for UK adults, classifying them as overweight) experienced similar cardiovascular benefits to those with higher BMI scores. Crucially, these benefits were largely independent of the weight lost within the initial four months of treatment.

Responding to the study, Professor Tim Chico, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield who was not involved in the research, remarked, "It suggests the benefits of the drug are not only caused by causing weight loss. The implications of this and other similar studies are profound." He suggested that given the average BMI for UK adults, most individuals with heart disease could potentially benefit from incorporating semaglutide into their existing medication regimens, which often include aspirin, statins, and blood pressure-lowering drugs.

Professor Azeem Majeed, an expert in primary care and public health at Imperial College London, echoed this sentiment, stating that the findings "reinforce the use of semaglutide as a disease-modifying therapy for high-risk patients and not just as a weight-loss tool." He further speculated that this could lead to a future expansion of semaglutide's use beyond strict BMI cutoffs, encouraging its earlier adoption in cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Semaglutide works by mimicking a natural hormone, tricking the brain into feeling full, thereby reducing appetite and leading to weight loss, with users typically losing up to 33lbs (15.3kg) over 68 weeks. The drug has been available on the NHS since 2019 and in the US since 2017 for managing blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics. A specific semaglutide drug for weight loss, branded Wegovy, received approval in Britain in 2022 and in the US in 2021. The NHS in England is currently rolling out weight loss injections to 240,000 individuals with the highest need over the next three years, recognizing the significant public health challenge posed by the two in three Britons classified as overweight or obese.