FRIDAY, Aug. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Research has already proven that the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) can slash a person's odds for heart attacks and strokes, and now more data from the same trial suggests that's even true for very ill patients with heart failure.

The finding also helps clear up a concern around the use of Wegovy in these patients, added study lead author Dr. John Deanfield, of University College London (UCL).

“This is important, as there were concerns that semaglutide might be harmful for people with a type of heart failure known as reduced ejection fraction, where the heart pumps less blood around the body," he explained in a UCL news release.

"Our findings show that the benefit of semaglutide was similar, regardless of heart failure type," said Deanfield, who is a professor of cardiology at the university.

Last November, Deanfield and his colleagues first reported that overweight or obese heart patients age 45 or older had a 20% lower odds for heart attack or stroke if they received weekly Wegovy injections for an average of 34 months.

That trial was funded by Wegovy's maker, Novo Nordisk, and involved more than 17,600 patients recruited from centers worldwide.

The new analysis looked at a subset of close to 4,300 patients from the same trial. All of these patients were deemed by doctors to have heart failure -- a condition where the heart's pumping action is impaired -- at the start of the trial.

Use of Wegovy was linked with a 28% reduction in "major adverse cardiac events" such as heart attack or strokes in this very ill cohort of heart failure patients, Deanfield's group reported.

In total, 9.1% of patients who were taking Wegovy had a major cardiac event, compared to 12.3% of those who got "dummy" placebo injections.

In addition, heart failure patients taking Wegovy had a 24% reduction in deaths linked to heart disease and a 19% reduction in deaths from any cause, the study found.

All of this held true regardless of what type of heart failure the patient had.

Deanfield's team compared outcomes for patients who had a form of the disease with preserved ejection fraction (where the heart pumps normally but remains too stiff to fill up properly) and another form involving reduced ejection fraction.

Wegovy appeared to boost outcomes for patients regardless of the type of heart failure they had, the researchers found.

Just how does semaglutide (also marketed as the diabetes medicine Ozempic) boost the health of heart failure patients?

According to the study authors, the drug may help improve blood sugar levels and blood pressure while easing inflammation. It might also exert direct effects on the heart muscle and blood vessels.

The new findings support the notion that heart failure patients may want to consider using semaglutide on top of their existing meds, the British team said.

There were some limitations on the study: The larger trial wasn't focused on heart failure per se, so another trial that does focus on this type of patient is needed, Deanfield and his team believe.

Also, the patients in this trial were largely white and male, so a trial involving a more diverse population is also needed, they said.

The new findings were published Aug. 23 in The Lancet journal.

More information

Find out more about heart failure at the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: University College London, news release, Aug. 22, 2024