WEIGHT loss jabs could more than halve heart patients’ risk of dying young, research suggests.
A study by Harvard University, USA, found the injections Mounjaro and Wegovy prevented hospital admissions and deaths in people living with heart failure .
A second study by Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk revealed both jabs also cut the risk of heart attack , stroke and early death in patients with cardiovascular disease .
It is the latest in a string of health benefits discovered in patients taking the blockbuster slimming drugs.
Experts believe that losing fat helps but the jabs may also boost heart health in separate ways that they do not yet understand.
More than 1.5million Brits are estimated to be prescribed the medicines, known as GLP-1 agonists .
Nearly eight million people in the UK have heart diseases and they are a leading cause of death, killing 170,000 per year.
The latest studies, presented at the conference of the European Society of Cardiology, analysed medical records from 120,000 people.
Patients in the Harvard study had the most common type of heart failure and were taking either a GLP-1 jab or type 2 diabetes drug sitagliptin.
Results showed patients who took Mounjaro, known as tirzepatide, were 58 per cent less likely to die or end up in hospital during the six-year study, compared to those on standard treatment.
Patients on semaglutide, known as Wegovy or Ozempic , were at a 42 per cent lower risk than average.
Dr Carlos Aguiar, vice-president of the European Society of Cardiology, said: “This shows there is a benefit in using one of these two agents to reduce risk.
“We thought that we might not really find a treatment that would work well for a significant proportion of these patients.
“What’s been a good surprise is that these drugs are working through weight loss but possibly also through other effects that go beyond weight loss.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, of the British Heart Foundation, added: “It’s crucial that eligible heart failure patients have the opportunity to be considered for these therapies.”
Dr Akshay Desai, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, said the drugs have become “really attractive agents for treatment” of heart patients.
He said: “Until recently, we have really had a limited array of therapies.”
The second study by Novo Nordisk compared overweight patients with heart disease who were taking either Wegovy or Mounjaro.
Both groups had a reduced risk of dying or having a heart attack or stroke during the study, compared to average, with a stronger benefit from semaglutide.
Other studies have suggested the jabs may also protect against dementia , certain types of cancer and kidney and liver diseases .
