Revolutionary weight loss injections may significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, independent of the amount of weight lost, according to promising new research.

Semaglutide, the active compound in the widely acclaimed medications Wegovy and Ozempic, has been celebrated as a milestone in tackling obesity.

In recent years, accumulating evidence suggests these drugs could also play a crucial role in treating various other conditions, such as heart disease, asthma, and even alcohol dependency.

A landmark international study—the most extensive and prolonged investigation into semaglutide’s cardiovascular advantages—revealed that these benefits are evident regardless of the weight loss achieved by patients.

Researchers discovered that the initial weight loss did not determine who experienced fewer cardiovascular issues.

However, a reduction in waist circumference—indicative of decreased abdominal fat—accounted for roughly one-third of semaglutide’s total cardiovascular benefits and reduced the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes by nearly 20%.

The findings suggest the jabs could have wider benefits for patients so should not be restricted solely to severely obese patients, the scientists said. 

But experts today, who labelled the findings ‘profound’, cautioned that further research was vital to prove exactly why the jabs had this effect. 

Semaglutide—the powerful ingredient behind Wegovy and Ozempic—has long been hailed a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity 

Professor John Deanfield, an expert in cardiology at University College London and study lead author, said: ‘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.

‘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.’

He added: ‘This work has implications for how semaglutide is used in clinical practice.

‘You don’t have to lose a lot of weight and you don’t need a high BMI to gain cardiovascular benefit.

‘If your aim is to reduce cardiovascular disease, restricting its use to a limited time only and for those with the highest BMIs doesn’t make sense.

‘At the same time, the benefits need to be weighed against potential side effects. 

‘Investigations of side effects become especially important given the broad range of people this medicine and others like it could help.’

The global trial was carried out across 41 countries and involved 17,604 patients aged at least 45 who were either overweight or obese.

Half were given the highest available dose of semaglutide, 2.4mg, each week while the other half was given a dummy drug, known as a placebo.

They found that patients with a body mass index (BMI) score of 27—the average BMI score for UK adults, classing them as overweight—saw similar benefits as those who had the highest BMI scores.

Writing in the prestigious journal The Lancet, they said the benefits were also largely independent of how much weight people lost in the first four months of treatment. 

But the researchers did notice a difference between shrinking waistlines, measured by waist circumference, and heart benefits.

An ‘estimated 33 per cent of the observed benefit on major adverse cardiovascular events was mediated through waist circumference reduction’, they noted. 

This cut the risk of an event such as a heart attack or stroke by 14 per cent. 

Responding to the study’s findings, Professor Tim Chico, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield who wasn’t involved in the research, said: ‘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.

‘The average man or woman in the UK has a BMI over 27, so most people with heart disease are likely to benefit from adding semaglutide to their existing drugs, which already usually include aspirin, statins, blood pressure lowering drugs, and other blood thinners.

‘Evidence from this and other studies suggests we should consider giving these drugs to the very large number of people likely to get a meaningful benefit.’

Professor Azeem Majeed, an expert in primary care and public health at Imperial College London, added: ‘The findings reinforce the use of semaglutide as a disease-modifying therapy for high-risk patients and not just as a weight-loss tool. 

‘In future, this may potentially lead to broadening the use of semaglutide beyond strict BMI cutoffs and encouraging its earlier use in cardiovascular disease prevention.’  

Semaglutide injections have been shown to help users lose up to 33lbs (15.3kg) on average over 68 weeks.

They work by tricking the brain into thinking it’s full, consequently slashing appetite, and helping people lose weight as a result.

Semaglutide has been available on the NHS since 2019, and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics to manage blood sugar levels.

Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022, and in the US in 2021, under the brand Wegovy.

The NHS in England is rolling out weight loss jabs to 240,000 people with the highest need over the next three years. 

Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese and NHS figures show people now weigh about a stone more than 30 years ago.