25 August 2023 , 19:32
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Weight loss jabs are the first treatment shown to reverse heart failure.
Research suggests that the appetite suppressing drug semaglutide could transform treatment for many with the cardiac condition, which affects a million people in Britain. Tests showed it is three times better than any other treatment at improving symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue. The results are the first to show that heart failure symptoms can be reversed.
Sold under brand names including Wegovy, the findings suggest it could dramatically improve quality of life for patients with a form of heart failure called preserved ejection fraction, which affects half of sufferers. Lead investigator Dr Mikhail Kosiborod, of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, in Kansas City, US, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first trial of a pharmacologic agent to specifically target obesity as a treatment strategy for HFpEF, and the magnitude of the benefits we observed is the largest seen. This will likely have a significant impact on clinical practice.”
Unveiled at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Amsterdam, the randomised, double-blinded clinical trial – the gold standard – included 529 patients from 13 countries with a BMI of more than 30 and an average age of 69. One group was given a once-weekly jab for a year and the other was given a placebo. Body weight for those on the drugs dropped by 13.3% compared to 2.6%.
Semaglutide's main function is to reduced weight by supressing appetite (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Researchers rated each group based on changes to heart failure-related symptoms and looked at whether patients were able to perform better walking for six minutes. After 52 weeks they rated improvement at 16.6 points for patients on the weight loss jabs compared to 8.7 points in the placebo group.
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Body weight for those on the drugs dropped by 13.3% compared to 2.6%. Dr Kosiborod added: “These findings are the largest that we have ever seen with any pharmacologic intervention in this patient population. We believe that they should change the nature of the conversation about the role of obesity in HFpEF.
“These results clearly indicate that obesity is not simply a comorbidity in patients with HFpEF but a root cause and a target for therapeutic intervention.” The mean change to walking distance in six minutes was 21.5 metres for those on the jabs and 1.2 metres in the placebo group.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Only a few years ago, drugs that could help people to achieve life-changing weight loss felt like a far-off dream but now they are here. For some people, living with heart failure can make everyday activities difficult or even impossible.
“The kind of improvements seen in this study, such as being able to walk further, could have a transformational impact on someone’s life.” Professor Frank Ruschitzka, past-president of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC, said: “This is a stride forward into a new era.”