13 May 2024 , 22:01
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Weight loss jabs could save millions of lives after a global trial found it prevents heart attacks and strokes.
The results have been hailed as the biggest medical breakthrough since cholesterol-busting statins. Tests found weight loss drug Wegovy also lower the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 20%. Researchers believe it strengthens artery walls.
University College London cardiologist Professor John Deanfield, who conducted the trial, said: “This really is a game changer. It’s the sort of thing we got with statins in the 90s. Today we’re talking about cardiovascular disease but there are others that might benefit from these drugs, like kidney or neurological disease.”
Previous trials have focused on the obese and showed dramatic weight loss but this three-year study also offered Wegovy to mildly overweight people who have had heart attacks, strokes or peripheral artery disease and were on statins.
The drug, made by Novo Nordisk, slows digestion by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone which makes us feel full. It is prescribed on the NHS for people with a BMI of 35 or higher. But Prof Deanfield said it may be offered to those with a BMI of 27 and cardiovascular disease to prevent heart attacks.
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Those who took it in the trial showed health benefits even if they did not lose weight, the European Congress on Obesity in Venice heard. Heart and circulatory diseases cause a quarter of all UK deaths each year.