Weight-loss drugs could halve risk of people living with heart conditions dying early

Weight-loss drugs could cut by half the risk of people living with heart conditions dying prematurely or being admitted to hospital, according to the largest study of its kind.

The medicines, known as GLP-1 agonists, were found to deliver “dramatic benefits” by significantly reducing the chances of people living with heart conditions becoming seriously ill or dying from any cause.

The findings, unveiled at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual conference in Madrid, suggest the drugs could be prescribed to millions of people with heart problems to extend life and reduce hospitalisations.

The new study, led by researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston, examined data from more than ninety thousand people living with obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the most common type of heart failure.

Results showed that individuals treated with semaglutide were forty-two per cent less likely to be hospitalised or die prematurely compared with those on placebo. Another GLP-1 agonist, tirzepatide, reduced the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure or death from any cause by fifty-eight per cent.

Globally, more than sixty million people are estimated to live with heart failure. While earlier trials had suggested that weight-loss drugs could ease symptoms, this is the first large-scale study to show significant reductions in hospitalisation and mortality.

Dr Nils Krüger, the study’s lead author from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said current treatment options for HFpEF remained limited. “Both semaglutide and tirzepatide are well known for their effects on weight loss and blood sugar control, but our study suggests they may also offer substantial benefits to patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes by reducing adverse heart failure outcomes,” he said.

The findings, also published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, build on previous research. In May, a University College London study revealed that semaglutide cut the risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death by twenty per cent, regardless of a individual’s weight or degree of weight loss.

Dr Carlos Aguiar, vice-president of the European Society of Cardiology, who was not involved in the research, welcomed the results. “What this shows is that there is a benefit in using one of these two agents, semaglutide or tirzepatide, to reduce the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure or all-cause mortality,” he said.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, consultant cardiologist and clinical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These data add to the growing body of evidence supporting a role for weight-loss drugs for patients living with both heart failure and obesity, to reduce hospital admissions and death. It is crucial that eligible patients are given the opportunity to be considered for these therapies, alongside other evidence-based heart failure medicines.”